It’s mid October! This means one thing for most people, Halloween, that perfect time for kids and kids at heart to just pick their spookiest costumes in prep for the night of the 31st to go on with trick-or-treat. Grown-ups will be busy decorating their houses and filling large bowls with sweets. And pumpkin-carving is still a thing as both kids and adults continue to enjoy making the best jack-o-lantern.
For the for-purpose sector, though, Halloween isn’t all just fun and games. There are fundraisers who manage to make an impact out of this occasion by gathering support from generous citizens to donate to communities in need. The niftiest fundraising events get the most buzz over the years, helping advance different advocacy. For this, Third Sector has listed Australia’s 3 Best Halloween Fundraisers in 2019.
Scare Cancer
Ghosts, zombies, and monsters are usually the scary things that come out at night during Halloween. But for some kids, nothing strikes fear into their hearts more than the big C. According to the Children’s Cancer Institute of Australia, nearly 1,000 Australian children are diagnosed with some form of cancer each year. It’s truly a very scary thing for kids to realize that even as young as they are, their days are already numbered.
The more dreadful thing is that cancer can show up at any time. There are no easily discernible triggers; it hits them the moment they least expect it to. What’s more, cancer is a very costly disease to manage. In many cases, it puts a big dent in the family’s finances.
Charities like Kids With Cancer Foundation exist to help children afflicted with cancer. Since it was established in 1998, the charity has raised more than $25 million in donations to hospitals and families of kids with cancer.
The foundation has its own Halloween fundraising event called Scare Cancer. KWCF encourages independent organisers to hold their own events, which, based on the KWCF Scare Cancer webpage, could be in the form of a BBQ, Morning Tea, or even a trick-or-treat party involving other kids. Companies and individuals can request to organise Scare Cancer events by filling in the application form on their webpage.
The charity also holds an annual Scare Cancer National Campaign to help raise funds for the cause. This year, they aim to raise $50,000 and are still actively looking for donors and independent organisers. The campaign is still running; it will end on 31st October 2019.
Sick or Treat Charity Ball
Cancer is not only a problem of children. Even adults’ lives can be shattered once they have been diagnosed with this dreadful disease. It’s even worse if it’s what’s known as a rare and less common (RLC) cancer. According to the charity Rare Cancers Australia (RCA), there are over 200 types of these, and over 52,000 Australians were diagnosed with them in 2017.
Research into these cancers are not as well-funded, and thus are slow to progress. As a consequence, treatments are similarly hard to come by and often more expensive than typical cancer therapies.
There is a disparity in treatment options for Australians with RLC cancers. These patients lack access to the treatment options that are readily available to patients afflicted with more common cancers.
This is what RCA wants to address. They aim to help patients suffering from RLC cancers get the proper treatments. They also raise funds to help give needy RLC cancer patients a chance at another life.
One of their popular fundraisers is the Sick or Treat Charity Ball. It aims to raise both awareness and funds for patients with RLC cancers. It’s an annual event, and it has been met with huge success. In fact, in the 2017 Sick or Treat Charity Ball two years ago, more than $83,000 was raised for the event.
This year, the event has been rebranded into the 2019 Halloween Charity Ball. It has the same goal, with 100% of the proceeds going to the RCA’s Patient Care Team to support both cancer patients and their carers. The event will be held on 25th October 2019 at the Sydney Town Hall.
Scare4Rare Campaign
The RCA also runs a programme similar to KWCF’s Scare Cancer campaign. In the Scare4Rare fundraiser for patients with RLC cancers, the RCA encourages individuals and companies to organise their own halloween-for-a-cause events where they can donate some of the proceeds to RCA.
It’s also a dual-purpose campaign. Based on the Scare4Rare 2019 webpage, people may also just donate if they do not have time to organise an event. Their target for this year is to raise $50,000 to help people suffering from RLC cancers. Scare4Rare will continue to run until 31st October 2019.
Do you know any more cool Halloween fundraisers that we should add to this list? Comment below.