Surely what must be one of the simplest and yet most effective ways of raising awareness and fundraising is the Savealife
Rotary project which is administered by the Rotary Club of Tauranga Sunrise, NZ.
It
all started in 2015 when two enterprising Rotarians, John Dentice and
Brian Rickard from Palmerston North, NZ saw an
opportunity for selling capsule keyrings. The big difference was that
each capsule was to contain a 300mg soluble aspirin which could be used
if someone was experiencing signs of a heart attack. The simple act of
chewing that aspirin, or having it dissolve
if placed under the tongue, may help to keep that person alive
for up to what the paramedics call 'The Golden Hour' - that being the
time between having the attack and the paramedics arriving on the scene
and transporting the patient to hospital. John
and Brian explored all the aspects of this idea and soon had the
backing of medical consultants.
All
the components were sourced, the capsules were filled and bagged and
the big sell began! Pretty soon, it became obvious
that this idea was going to be bigger than they imagined and, after a
fortuitous meeting at a trade show with Rotary Club of Tauranga Sunrise
President Ron Fyfe, a collaboration was deemed necessary in order to
roll out the project to a wider network. Thus,
Tauranga Sunrise Rotary took over the national distribution of the
capsules (originally named ‘Lifesavers’, subsequently re-branded to
'Savealife').
The early days were tentative as we tested the market and introduced three different selling tiers:
Retail : $NZ4 (No minimum)
Retailers: $3 (100 minimum)
Rotary clubs: $2 (100 minimum)
All prices include Goods and Services Tax (GST)
It
quickly became apparent that the best way to publicise the project was
to encourage other Rotary clubs to take over
distribution for their respective areas by whatever means they saw fit,
thereby making a $2 profit on each one they sell at retail level. The
tiered selling also allowed for clubs to make a $1 profit if they on
sold to retailers.
Rotary
clubs in District 9930 joined in initially and then the word got round,
so we started getting enquiries from clubs
further afield. We also saw a niche market which gave the opportunity
for enterprising companies to purchase the capsules as a corporate
giveaway with their own logo and contact details – for this we charge a
$1 per unit premium.
Website
www.savealife.co.nz was launched with further information on the project and a contact form.
Orders soon started rolling in, especially with companies seeing the value of being part of such a caring and potentially
life-saving project. Pdf images are always supplied for approval prior to manufacture.
Home
shows, women's expos and other trade shows were very successful, with
very few refusals, so the next stage was to
run a newspaper promotion. The publishers needed no encouragement to
feature the capsules on pages 1,2 and 3 of their free edition
Bay of Plenty Times and orders followed thick and fast. A call by
one of our founding members to the Newstalk ZB radio studio (following a
feature on defibrillators) saw enquiries from all over New Zealand and
further afield.
Our
mission statement is to encourage as many people to have a Savealife
capsule on their keyring. It is perhaps surprising
– and not a little scary – that we are receiving regular reports and
stories of people who had had to use their capsule. Incidentally, each
sale is accompanied by a purse or wallet sized card which gives all
details in relation to procedure, not the least
of which is checking for the existence of a MedicAlert medical identity
bracelet or necklace and, of course, to dial 111 emergency service. In
the vast majority of cases, the paramedics have asked the caller, “Does
anyone have an aspirin with them?”
As
a club, we feel that we are only just scratching the surface of this
great fundraiser, especially as ALL the profit
that we make goes back into the community and even after the first
eight months, this is proving to be a significant sum, so we encourage
any other clubs to contact us to help fulfil our dream while saving
lives.
Internationally,
there is the opportunity for our Rotarian friends across the Tasman to
participate and, whilst we are
not able to export filled with aspirin capsules, we are actively
seeking national distribution partners to work towards a mutually
beneficial end.
Interested? For more information, please contact
Savealife Project Coordinator Dave Woodhouse via +64 27 513 2345 or email
info@savealife.co.nz.
Is $4 a fair price to pay for the potential of saving a life? We think so.
