At the end of last term, Raymond Mallin, a Year 7 student at the Boys’ School, set himself a goal – to raise $10,000 for Starship Children’s Hospital. Posters went up around the school to advertise his venture with a message of hope and inspiration. ‘Beating cancer is in my blood. When I was 9 years old, I was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer and in December 2017, I had a bone marrow transplant. The amazing doctors and nurses at Starship saved my life and now I would like to give back.’

Raymond is one determined young man and with help from home, he set about selling home-made facemasks for men, women and children, with 100% of the sales going towards his fundraising effort. Good marketing is essential to sales and Gavin visited classrooms with posters and samples and spoke directly to teachers to encourage interest.

On a mufti day held at the end of term, two stalls were set up at school with masks available in a wide range of fabric choices to appeal to both boys and staff alike. Sales were brisk and by lunchtime Raymond had reached his first goal and sold almost 300 masks at $20 each. Proceeds from the mufti day were added to this, raising the total from the day to $8134. In true Saint Kentigern community spirit, prior to mufti day, having heard about his goal, a number of parents had already made additional donations, allowing Raymond to hit his target, raising just over $10,000.

Raymond is very grateful for the school community getting behind his efforts, saying, ‘ I can’t thank everyone enough for helping me achieve my goal. Raising funds for Starship is something I have wanted to do since my bone marrow transplant in 2017. I really liked planning and organising the fundraising and now have big plans for 2021. Next year I am going to work on having a BRAVE day for schools in September around New Zealand. I am going to spend the year planning and organising, and try to have an awesome day for kids to be extra Brave for the day to help raise money for Starship.’

Well done Raymond. You are one determined young man and we wish you well with your planning for next year!

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