Dry July; we did it!
Aug 1, 2012
Dry July'ers Michelle Manuel (right) & Stephanie Hunter
Dry July is over! It’s time to raise your glasses and celebrate your ‘dry’ accomplishment.
But it’s not exactly ALL over – you still have until midnight August 31st to gather donations from friends and family who saw you ‘suffer’ through a dry month! Or maybe it’s time to donate a couple of Golden Tickets to yourself for those weak moments where you gave into a drink… Remember, all donations will go a long way in helping to improve cancer patient comfort and care at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) and three regional hospitals across South Australia: Mount Gambier Hospital, Whyalla Hospital and Port Lincoln Hospital.
In South Australia alone we had 1014 participants on board and we’ve raised a total of $193,065 so far! We want to push that well over the $200,000 mark.
We’d like to thank just a few of the amazing South Australian teams who we’ve had contact with and really got behind the program this year.
Journalist/reporter Hayley Conole roused a team of 6 people at Ten News Adelaide to get on board in 2012. Hayley dedicated her Dry July to her Nanna Irene who died in January at the age of 98, after being diagnosed with bowel cancer 10 years earlier. The team have raised over $1,700 so far.
Radio presenter Ian Henschke led an enthusiastic team of 891 ABC Adelaide Ambassadors. The team of 13 have raised over $4,000 so far and supported the program generously through talking about it on radio.
The Rural Doctors Workforce Agency (RDWA) are a force to be reckoned with; 14 team members joined the challenge after being inspired by their co-worker and Dry July ‘team leader’ Michelle Manuel who celebrated 1-year of remission from Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in July. The team have raised $6,231 so far and RDWA have agreed to dollar match the amount raised by the team (to an extent) which is an extremely generous gesture by management.
Finally, the top SA team to beat are the Cancer Crushers, led by the inspiring and outgoing Bindi Simpson. After being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Bindi spent a day a week for 6 months this year receiving chemotherapy at TQEH and is a huge advocate for Dry July. She encouraged 15 friends and colleagues to join her team and they’ve raised over $8,500 so far!
We would LOVE to hear from any other South Australian teams about your motivations for Dry July – get in contact with us at (08) 8244 1100 or bdalcollo@hospitalresearch.com.au.
If you’ve finished Dry July and still not sure it was worth the struggle, we encourage you to meet Michelle and Steph by watching our latest YouTube video. It may just convince you that ultimately, Dry July was worth it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pFuvPHGO_4&list=UUsD-ct1-f15hrEpQor8usVg&index=1&feature=plcp
For all those who participated in Dry July, we’d love you to share your stories and experiences with us. What did you get out of Dry July? Why did you do it? And how hard was it?
Please post your experiences on our Facebook wall, or email Bianca DalCollo on bdalcollo@hospitalresearch.com.au, call on (08) 70020804.
We look forward to hearing from you, and watching that SA donation counter reach well above $200,000!
Thanks for all your support.