Many Rotarians have gone to extremes to raise money for Rotary's US$200 Million Challenge.
But Australian Rotarian Robert Pennicott set a record with his
fundraising venture. Pennicott, fellow Tasmanian Mick Souter, and
cameraman Zorro Gamarnik became the first people to circumnavigate
Australia in boats powered by outboard motors. (click below to read more)
Pennicott, a member of the Rotary Club of Kingston, and Souter
piloted two 17-foot-long inflatable dinghies, propelled by twin
60-horsepower engines, on the 12,000-mile journey around the Australian
continent (including the island state of Tasmania). They began in Sydney
on 2 June and arrived back on 11 September.
"Rotarians have worked tirelessly toward eradicating polio for the
past 25 years. With now just 1 percent to go, I decided to do something
different and a bit 'out there' to try to raise a bit of money,"
Pennicott said. "I believe it’s the weird and wacky ideas that get
people talking, and I don’t think they come much crazier than traveling
around Australia in a rubber dinghy."
The effort, dubbed Follow the Yellow Boat Road,
has raised more than $250,000 to date, and fundraising will continue
for several months. Rotary's challenge, which seeks to match $355
million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will
receive 92 percent of the proceeds; the remainder will support nature
conservation projects through a foundation Pennicott established in May.
Trip sponsors included National Geographic Traveler, Tourism Australia, branding firm Green Team, and communications company Telstra.
Video blog
Pennicott, a tourism entrepreneur who owns Pennicott Wilderness
Journeys, began planning the adventure three years ago. He invested over
$100,000 of his own money, which covered the cost of the voyage itself.
The two bright-yellow dinghies, Polio I and Polio II ,
bore the Rotary emblem on their hulls; it also was emblazoned on the
team's jackets and all promotional materials. Gamarnik shot footage of
the entire journey, producing videos of each leg of the trip for a blog. Satellite tracking allowed visitors to follow the boats' daily progress.
Along the way, business colleagues, family members, and friends
joined the team for legs of the trip. Rotarians from District 9830
(Tasmania) organized much of the land-side support, and Rotarians around
the continent hosted the travelers at various ports of call. At each
stop, Pennicott spoke to media and the general public about Rotary and
polio eradication.
"A large part of this journey has been about raising awareness of
Rotary's work with polio eradication," Pennicott said. "As we traveled
around Australia, I presented to thousands and thousands of people. With
polio no longer in the face of everyday Australians, it's been
important to educate the public about the effects of the disease and why
we need them to support our efforts to wipe it out completely.
"Ultimately, it's exciting to think that we could see polio wiped
from the face of the planet in our lifetime," he added. "Bill Gates
wouldn't have pledged $355 million if he wasn't confident that the
disease could be eradicated. We really are just this close."
No comments:
Post a Comment