What better way to wrap up the month of July than to have a quick drink with friends (finally!!!) which we never had a chance to do last month–for a very important purpose! 

Loud and proud, we can finally say that our team at 4one4 Property Co not only survived, but thrived on the ‘Dry July’ challenge…. !!!

Behind this challenge is acknowledging and fundraising for a great cause that aims to help cancer patients along with their families and carers. While abstaining from alcohol  last July, our Team at 4one4 Property Co. also undertook a fund-raising campaign for the cause.

Ideally, our team’s humble first target was to generate $1,000, but with everyone’s efforts and genuine support, we were able to exceed our goal, garnering a total of $3,410.95 in donations. Which we decided was so  damn close to a nice round figure of $3500, that we bumped it up that extra little bit to hit that milestone! 

“Probably the biggest thank you and congratulations go to the people who donated because their money is being used for really good things. I can’t thank them enough for donating some of their money. You know, money is a thing that we all need in this expensive world that we live in, so I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.”

This initiative comes along with a “win-win” situation. Not only were we able to help people battling cancer, but we also helped ourselves to become healthier. Martin shared how some members of the team exchanged chats in the office sharing they noticed that they feel a little bit cleaner, lighter, and healthier each day.

Admittedly, it was a bit challenging for some of our team members, but this campaign created camaraderie among the staff as we encouraged and pushed each other along. Even our very own Content Writer, Niño, who’s on the other side of the world, became an unofficial member as he joined us in this meaningful cause!

We’re lucky to speak with two of our staff members who took part in the Dry July campaign:

Aaron Horne, our Marketing Guru (who admitted in his younger university years was a ‘too-regular’ drinker, but is more partial to the  occasional one these days) and;

Chris McGregor, our Real Estate Agent (who often enjoys the social drink with friends and glass of wine with his wife to wind down an evening).

Both of them shared that this was their first time to participate in such a great cause (with an equally great challenge), and we’ll find out later if they’re willing to do it again next year. (fingers-crossed!)

First things first, how does it feel that you survived the ‘Dry July’ challenge?

Aaron: “It’s really good to have everybody around each other, supporting one another throughout the month. There were a lot of chats around the office about who’s doing well and who thought they had a moment to slip up. It’s so nice to have such a tight group  of people doing it alongside one another,  rather than doing it by yourself and trying to battle along.”

 

 

 

Chris: “Actually, it’s really good. As a team in the office, the achievement of doing ‘Dry July’ is really great because I didn’t find it hard as I initially thought.”

 

 

What motivated you to join or take part in this meaningful campaign?

 

Aaron: “It was my grandmother who was battling cancer at that time and unfortunately, in the month of July, we did lose her to that battle. It felt like a small thing that we could do to help raise funds for a really important cause.”

 

 

Chris: “I was with Martin in the office when he started the team at 4one4 Property Co and he just asked if I wanna be involved….Without thinking too long, I said “why not?” I wanted to give it a try…. Plus, I saved a lot of money haha!”

 

 

How did you guys manage a month with no alcohol at all?

Aaron: “It’s funny, since becoming a dad last year, a lot of people said ‘Oh look out, that will drive you to the drink!!!’… but I think I’ve probably drunk the least in the past year, than I ever have before.(….Back in my days studying I probably did enough drinking for a few lifetimes to be honest though)!!!

So to answer that one, I was actually probably in ‘training’ for a month off way before the idea was ever proposed by Martin- the only tricky part was probably when a friend opened their new brewery and restaurant, Deep South Brewing Company, at the start of July… He totally understood that I couldn’t partake in his new beers just yet! But I will say, I did enjoy the hell out of their woodfired pizzas!!!” 

 

 

Chris: “We tried non-alcoholic white wine and red wine and even had a go at some non-alcoholic gin, haha which is just flavored water really. 

We tried that a few times, but the commitment was still there.” (don’t worry, mate! We don’t think that’s cheating.)

 

 

What do you think is the impact of this campaign to you or to the whole 4one4 Team?

Aaron: “I guess it was a really good one of bringing people together as I’ve said, we were talking about it throughout the month, motivating one another, and sharing more personal stories rather than just business-related. Everybody supported one another in that sense, overall as a team. And personally, it’s close to my family. It felt good to be contributing in that sense, too.”

 

 

 

 

Chris: “This taught me to not drink so much and I can go through a whole week without having to worry about it and the money I save, I can put them elsewhere. Personally, I was able to raise $1,173.20 (from my goal of $1,000) and that could go a long way.”

 

 

Do you have a message to those people out there who donated to this great cause?

Aaron: “I guess, cancer is something that affects a lot of people out there and most people know somebody that’s been affected by it, and I’ve seen people go through this kind of treatment or lost their lives to it. So I really really appreciated how many people have taken that on board and decided to help out. And in a tricky time where people are jobless with COVID and things like that, we really appreciated everybody that helped in the whole campaign.” 

 

 

 

Chris: “An absolute and sincere thank you to each and everyone. And some of them are quite generous and it’s much appreciated. I personally thanked each one of them. I got a lot more than I thought I would, and that is good.”

 

 

So, for the bottomline question, when we asked them if they see themselves doing the same thing next year, July 2022, without any second thoughts, they excitedly said “YES”.

Martin confirmed that the 4one4 Property Co. Team will be doing the Dry July campaign again next year, but with a little bit more preparations in the months leading up to July. “We’ll carry this on next year, 100 percent! And we’ll see if we can do it bigger and better to raise more money. More numbers for next year!”

And of course, this blog won’t end without a little appreciation message to our brave and kind team at 4one4 Property Co., from our Team Leader:

“Congratulations for sticking to the commitment that we’ve made from the start of the month and I’m very proud of the team for raising such an amount of money! Next year, we’ll get more people to take part in this! We’ll aim for more numbers!”

We share this success to all our beneficiaries and all the people who lend a helping hand on this. The Dry July Foundation confirmed that 2021 is a record-breaking year for Dry July for raising a phenomenal figure of $13 Million in total!!! 

Well, with all of these achievements, we guess it’s safe to raise our glasses this time and “let’s drink to that!”

Cheers, everyone!