Laurine Fillo and Ken MacKenzie have a lot in common. They both live in Alberta, Canada, and have connections to a local school in their community, Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS)—Ken works there as a teacher and volleyball coach, while Laurine’s nieces and nephews are enrolled as students. Laurine and Ken both have Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease and believe in exercise as a way to keep symptoms at bay. Combining their advocacy for exercise with their desire to support The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Laurine and Ken were the inspiration for Pedal for Parkinson's 2012. A mutual friend, Dave Lougheed, and his colleagues Tara Baker, Aaron Johnson and Trish Leadbeater, took the lead as Team Macquarie by joining Team Fox and organizing this first time fundraising event.
Their event centered on a stationary bike race where over 25 teams of six riders competed to cover the longest distance in one hour. Each teammate took a turn on the bike, having their distance tracked on a big screen in real time; the visual aspect of the race helped motivate each team to give it their all. And the teams certainly did just that. In addition to attending the event, each team was encouraged to fundraise in the days and weeks leading up to it.
Between the money each team raised and the efforts of efforts of the organizing committee to secure sponsorships, the event raised over $58,000 for Team Fox. Motivated by the Brin Wojcicki Challenge, Macquarie has a strong tradition of supporting the communities and charitable causes and in accordance with Macquaries Staff Support Policy, all funds raised by the event were matched by The Macquarie Group Foundation.
So, with the Macquarie match and the Brin Wojcicki Challenge, the impact that this first time event has made this year is worth over $200,000 for Parkinson’s research.
The secret to their success? Inspire competition to motivate others to fundraise on your behalf, and find a local company that is willing to get involved and match your final contribution.
A huge congratulations on such a successful first time event. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2013!