Armidale residents Deb Warren and Jenny Croaker have taken fundraising to a new level, creating an online auction, among other initiatives, to make it easier for anyone, anywhere and at any time to support their mighty Mt Kilimanjaro challenge.
The two adventurers, who have a strong connection to vision impairment, leave for Africa to climb its highest peak on Sunday, November 25, in a bold effort to raise $30,000 for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.
To date they’ve raised $17,000 and are pulling out all stops to reach their target.
Deb, who is completely blind and uses a guide dog called Meg, and Jenny, who is an Orientation & Mobility Instructor for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, are auctioning over 30 items over the internet, including Deb shaving her head, in a similar way to how E-bay and other online shopping works.
The auction, which can be accessed at http://auction4guidedogs.wordpress.com/ closes at midnight on Sunday, November 11. Other items include original artworks, music, movie, sporting and historical memorabilia, signed books and DVD, and a unique 16 carat smokey quartz faceted in the yin yang shape. The stone was found on Jenny’s parent’s property at Guyra and cut by a family friend. Jenny is also happy to take bids on her mobile, call 0429 309 379.
In their final four weeks of preparation, Deb and Jenny are also holding ‘Puppy Love’ fundraising stalls with some cute puppies on hand for pats and photos and a trivia night — see details below.
“The online auction has already drawn a lot of attention from people across Australia and even overseas,” said Jenny, who is using social media like Facebook to promote it.
“We’re able to reach more potential bidders and people don’t have to make the effort to attend an event. They can do it whenever it suits them, even when they’re in their pjs.”
“As well as being more convenient for potential supporters, it’s given Jenny and me the time for training, working and thinking of other fundraising ideas – $30,000 is a huge target but it’s so worth it as it’ll enable more puppies to be trained to become guide dogs like Meg,” added Deb.
