October was Breast Cancer month and because ABC focuses on women and health we decided to get together to try raise enough money to open 10 mobile clinics, which will travel to disadvantaged communities and provide free mammograms, pap smears and other important tests. Our aim was to raise R40 000 to do all the above and each camp was requested to have “drop in camps” or hikes where all proceeds would be go to CANSA. We were also encouraged to think out of the box for additional ways to raise money and what happened, still has us grinning from ear to ear!
I masterminded a simple plan with the initial goal of raising an additional R5000 from ABC Houghton over and above our contribution from the Gauteng CANSA hike we ran in October. I wanted to do something that combined Women’s Health Day with a CANSA fundraiser, seeing that breast cancer is a women’s health issue, it fitted in perfectly. In a nutshell, campers were asked to find 10 sponsors to sponsor them R10 to perform a whole bunch of exercises that I put together as a challenge which they had to complete in 20 minutes on Women’s Health Day, which is run on the third Monday of every camp in conjunction with the magazine’s featured exercises.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that such a simple concept, executed with precise organization, would be so incredibly successful. My ladies embraced this challenge with such passion and energy and we at Houghton are so proud of what we have achieved to make a difference in women’s lives. My goal was to raise R5000 from Houghton alone but we ended up raising in addition to our CANSA hike more than R58, 000! Can you believe it? It just goes to show with a little dedication, teamwork and much inspiration, anything is possible!

For more information on ABC and to get your health journey started, visit www.AdventureBootCamp.co.za