Although online donations can still be made, courageous young mum Claire Desmond admits to being “blown away” when she calculated the cumulative total of her recent fundraising effort for Red Nose Day.
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Supported by her husband Josh, family and friends, her original plan to dye her hair red to raise awareness, and funds, evolved into series of charity events and over $31 000 being raised in memory of the young couple’s son, Leo.
On Boxing Day in 2017 they woke up to discover their healthy, happy, three-month old baby boy had passed away during the night.
“Given I initially had a goal of $700 to $1000 I am absolutely blown away with our current fundraising total. I am hoping that this money can go a long way in terms of research,” she says.
But most importantly, Claire hopes their campaign has created a larger awareness of SIDS and infant loss within the Singleton community. Annually, 3 200 Australian families experience the sudden and unexpected death of a baby or child.
“I hope this somehow helps break down the uncomfortable barrier that people feel when speaking about child loss, stillbirth and miscarriage,” she explains.
In recapping this massive effort, Claire says local hairdresser Brittany Smith generously coloured her blonde locks on Friday, June 29 which is officially Red Nose Day.
Then on Saturday, June 30th a raffle and auction was held at the Clubhouse Hotel Singleton and thanks to support from local businesses there was a phenomenal 90 prizes up for grabs. On Sunday July 1, they held a ‘Red Nose Fundraising Day’ at Pirtek Park – the home ground of the Singleton Greyhounds – during Round 11 of the local competition. Here, merchandise was sold and another raffle conducted with prizes kindly donated by Sportspower and the Albion Hotel.
In addition to this, they received support from the Locker Room, Chapman Valley Horse Riding and Rainbow Early Learning Centre.
“The Locker Room donated $10 from every item sold from their 'Locker Room' range during the month of June and donated the money raised to my everyday hero page. My husband ran an internal raffle at his work with prizes that Komatsu had donated,” Claire says.
“My friend Jess Chapman from Chapman Valley Horse Riding and ran a charity ride on July 1 with all proceeds also donated to my everyday hero page and Rainbows Early Learning Centre did some fundraising at the preschool.”
Claire would like to extend a massive thank you to both all businesses who donated prizes and everyone who made a donation, purchased raffle tickets and bid on auction items. “Without your generous donations, we would not have raised as much money as we did,” she says