Dad approached me some months ago with an idea he had about doing a charity walk for Jill here in Mackay. Dad works at Mackay North State High School and thought that given Jill was a teacher he might be able to gain a bit of support through his school and also by tying it in with their 10,000 steps challenge. After running it by Jill's Mum Bron, Dad started organising. I too threw my support behind it by starting and promoting a Go Fund Me, with all money raised going to ELT 'Every Living Thing' the animal shelter where Jill rescued Marley from.
Besides from my family, Jill has no ties to Mackay, so we always knew it was never going to a big group doing the walk itself, but we were blown away with the generous donations received in support. Dad and I initially were hoping to raise around $400, but I am so pleased to say that together we were able to raise just shy of $1800, so Dad & I covered the shortfall to make a total donation of $1800. This amount of money was more than we could ever have hoped for, and I want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who donated. Particularly want to acknowledge Jill's family who made some really generous donations but also want to thank all the people who donated that didn't know Jill. It warms my heart greatly the generosity of people with their money and support for a cause that has become very important to me, and my family and I will be eternally grateful.
I also want to thank everyone who participated in the walk itself. We commenced the walk at 6am Sunday 10th September. The walk was approx 16km along the Bluewater Trail and took approx 3.5hr including a 30min coffee break at around the 2/3 mark.
And lastly a massive thank you to my Dad, who came up with idea and organised this. My Dad has the biggest heart and the fact that he wanted to do this makes me even prouder (if that's possible) to be his daughter. We all loved Jill and will always keep her memory alive.
If anyone is wanting to make any further donations in Jill's memory to ELT, donations can be made directly through:
The other great cause is TanRAP which aims to eliminate high risk roads in Tanzania and save 1.6 million lives.
This adventure on the 101 Adventures for Jill list is actually #51. 'Fundraise for the Tanzania Road Assessment Safety Program', but Tessa and Anna are already doing an incredible job raising money for this cause, which is why I changed this on my list to 'Fundraise for Every Living Thing'. Besides from being therapeutic to my own grief healing, I also like to think I am helping the ladies with their cause by participating in the adventures myself and hopefully driving people to their site. So, if you want to make any donations to this important cause you can do so through the 101 Adventure for Jill site below:
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