A definitive wrap-up of The $100k Celebration
2025-05-21
At the top of this fundraiser a month ago I was celebrating 10 years at The Kids’ Cancer Project. I began my tenure as CEO of The Kids’ Cancer Project in April 2015, working at the largest independent not-for-profit investor of childhood cancer research in Australia. The Kids’ Cancer Project was founded on a promise made by Col Reynolds OAM to never give up until every child survives cancer with minimal long-term effects.
It’s a promise I now make, too.
My rugby career has afforded me the unique opportunity to raise awareness and encourage the generous and ongoing support from our community, sporting, and corporate partners, as well as our volunteers. It has led me to helping provide scientists with the funding they need to make discoveries, translate pioneering research, advance treatments, and build support programs that will improve survival rates for all young people with cancer and allow them to thrive after treatment.
My role as CEO has also meant that I’ve met children and families that have endured childhood cancer and seeing firsthand the importance of what we do at The Kids’ Cancer Project. I mentioned that I know I’m lucky. The events of the past few weeks have certainly driven that home.
I started out with a $100,000 target, in recognition of the over 10,000 Aussie kids diagnosed with cancer during my ten-year tenure as CEO of The Kids’ Cancer Project.
It’s fair to say we rowed right through that milestone.
My community, the Friday 400 Crew from Maroubra, comprising 21 teams, took on 50 kilometres each to reach the wider goal of over 1,000km for each of the 1,000 kids diagnosed with cancer each year.
The fundraising target of $20,000 was smashed, with the entire community managing to raise $140,000 for childhood cancer research. The event was made a memorable one thanks to Noah Kulcsar who is a childhood cancer survivor who is currently thriving and playing representative rugby, the incredible efforts from 100’s of rowers, those in attendance, those who donated and the sausage sizzle made possible by volunteers Jimmy and Clint.
To give you an idea, $140,000 supports a comprehensive, long-term follow-up program for 22 children undergoing clinical trial, a crucial part of ensuring bold science can alter the lives of kids with cancer.
In something of a bid to wrap things up, here’s a refresher of my ten highlights for my ten years at The Kids’ Cancer Project.
Research underpins everything we do at The Kids’ Cancer Project. After forging strong relationships with oncologists throughout Sydney’s hospital network in the 1990s, Col Reynolds opted to venture away from taking kids on day trips in his bus and into cancer research. We’ve never looked back since. Find out about our advancements in research during my decade-long tenure here.
2023 marked The Kids’ Cancer Project’s 30th anniversary. The celebrations served as a time to pause and celebrate the fact that more kids are surviving cancer than ever before. It was celebrated with our board, staff, researchers, families and supporters of the charity. The focus was to acknowledge 30 incredible years for our partners, families, fundraisers and advocates whose dedication has helped transform the lives of children with cancer. Read about the festivities here.
During my tenure as CEO, I’ve sought to bring international awareness days and months to Australia in a bid to increase recognition of childhood cancer. From events to campaigns and Parliament House visits, we’ve constantly tried (and succeeded) to give kids with cancer a voice. To find out more about our advocacy efforts, click here.
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The opportunity to join our Founder, Col Reynolds, on a one-month bus journey from Townsville to Tasmania and back to Sydney as CEO was an amazing experience. The Kids’ Cancer Project embarked on a national awareness campaign travelling the east coast of Australia by bus, departing Townsville and visiting 21 towns through August arriving back to Sydney on 1 September, aligning with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It was one of many multiple whirlwind trips I’ve had in the job, and you can read about it here.
In honour of Anzac Day, I detailed our trip to Kokoda in 2016. I don’t think anything can prepare you for the Kokoda Trail. A 96-kilometre walking track situated through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea. If walking with a 23kg pack on your back each day was hard enough, imagine carrying a rifle with bullets and artillery shells whizzing over your head. Nonetheless, it was an eye-opening experience. Read about it here.
It’s an honour to be the CEO of The Kids’ Cancer Project for many reasons, but I am eternally grateful to have met the many, many people that help us via their own fundraisers. The next highlight gives mention to a few of our community champions. Find out about their incredible, selfless work in this article.
I am very proud of the growth of our corporate partners, trusts and foundations and charity partners over the last decade. Sharing the story of our Founder, Col Reynolds, and the over 30-year journey of inspiration, passion and impact with corporate partners and seeing them join our Kids’ Cancer Project family has been a highlight of my journey. Read about a few of our wonderful partners here.
In many ways, community fundraising is at the core of what we do at The Kids’ Cancer Project. Our founder, Col Reynolds OAM, consistently went door-to-door, made phone calls and held stalls at local shopping centres in an effort to raise money for childhood cancer research. We’ve most certainly expanded since then, but community fundraising remains. In this article, I highlight a few of my personal favourites from over the years.
Campaigns form a significant portion of our time and effort at The Kids’ Cancer Project, galvanising the community to help us raise funds for vital kids’ cancer research. Our campaigns take on many forms, encouraging businesses, schools and individuals to dig deep. Some include fitness challenges, others the opportunity to dress up, while one is quite the test of teamwork. Read about the strides Write a Book in a Day and Better Challenge have made in this article!
Finally, the importance of families sharing their journeys and the challenges of childhood cancer is profound for The Kids’ Cancer Project. These personal stories play a vital role in raising awareness, driving fundraising, influencing government support, shaping policy and building supportive communities. Read about a selection of our wonderful families in this article.
The Kids’ Cancer Project Community have allowed us to have a positive impact on childhood cancer thanks to the kids and families who share their journeys, our supporters, donors, community fundraisers and corporate partners and the pioneering scientist that thanks to your ongoing support bring us closer to our vision to see 100% of children, adolescents and young adults survive cancer and live with no long-term health implications caused by their treatment.
Although we reached our $100,000 target, I would still encourage you to learn more about The Kids’ Cancer Project.