Why I give to the Royal Children’s Hospital on Good Friday

Posted on 16/04/2019 by Aime Sandri in Sinclair Wilson in the Community

This week, Sinclair Wilson’s offices in Warrnambool, Hamilton, Colac, Camperdown and Mount Gambier are doing their small, but enthusiastic part for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal. 

A colourful jar of jelly beans is sitting at the reception of each office, for clients, friends and colleagues alike to guess the number of lollies inside for the cost of a gold coin, in the hope of claiming the full jar as their own come Thursday afternoon.

The glee and competitive spirit this simple fundraiser is generating across our offices is both entertaining and heartwarming; more than once, people have been caught carefully turning over their office’s full jar in the hope of deciphering a as-close-to-foolproof-as-possible means of counting how many of the multi-coloured beans have been jammed in there. It’s clear we have some driven amongst us who relish a challenge!

This light-hearted competition, however, belies the seriousness and solemnity of the cause we are fundraising for… and why it’s a cause that seems to strike at the heart of so many of us, myself included.

I do things like feverishly guess the number of jelly beans in a jar, or rattle a money tin at a busy intersection in my home town because I like to convince  myself that every dollar dropped into my bright-green-lidded cup will help protect my family from ever needing to call on this cause I’m so passionately working for.

I know that’s not quite logical. But I also know that so far, I’m one of the lucky ones.

So many of my friends and family have utilised the Royal Children Hospital over the years.

And every one of them speaks of its amazing people; the difference it makes to them at a time that’s typically desperate, stressful and even frustrating.

The Royal Children’s Hospital is an amazing place, that does amazing things, for amazing little people. How desperate I am to ensure I never need to discover this first-hand.

But how thankful I am that, if I do, the services and people at hand will be world-leading, thanks to the wider community that, year after year, gives, and gives and gives.

My favourite tin-rattling story (and every tin-rattler has one) is from the first year I collected. I had a conversation with a lady at the lights that although brief, still resonates with me today.

She explained that she collected coins throughout the year,  and on Good Friday, sets off through whatever town she in that day, distributing her coins, handfuls at a time. Like me, this lady was fortunate to have had no first-hand experience of the Royal Children’s Hospital. Yet, she still felt a deep-enough connection to make it her charity of choice for her year’s worth of collecting and saving.

I love that what the Royal Childrens Hospital does has this kind of impact on people. It’s why I’ll be giving up a good part of my day off this Friday, once again. I’d love you to give a wave – and a few dollars. See you Friday!