I think the video really speaks for itself, but… here’s my summary of their PledgeMe project, and some insights from the project team.
The project: creating a calendar to raise breast cancer awareness.
The ask: $10,000 to print the calendar.
The team: Auckland business woman and breast cancer survivor Liz Oliver, professional body painters Anna Molineux and Cathy Davies are behind the creation of the calendar. There is also a large team of body & make-up artists, photographers, a designer, video editor, assistants who have donated their time and expertise to the project.
Why? Well, now it’s scary stats time. 1 in 9 women are affected by breast cancer, and this calendar is going to not only help raise awareness – every calendar sold will be raising money for the Breast Cancer foundation.
I decided to dig a bit deeper, and did a quick interview with the Pink Ribbon Calendar team, and this is what they came back with:
What made you decide to crowdfund?
We heard about Pledge Me and thought crowdfunding was a brilliant idea because the Pink Ribbon calendar is a collaborative creative project and the issue of breast cancer affects a wide range of people across New Zealand.
Tell us a bit more about how you all met, and this journey started:
Passionate about body art, friends Liz Oliver and Anna Molineux were discussing Liz’s dream of painting imagery from her own breast cancer journey on a body. Anna suggested turning it into a much larger project. Anna had recently body painted a friend, just days before a double mastectomy and had been thinking about how to raise funds for breast cancer awareness.
Both women agreed that body painting a group of breast cancer survivors and taking the images on tour would not raise enough money or interest. The project needed to be more commercial. So, they decided to turn the artwork into a calendar.
The quickly convinced friend and fellow body painter Cathy Davies to join them and the project just snowballed from there.
What inspires the team?
“Taking a passion for body art and using it to make a difference, to touch
many people with an important message and potentially save a life” Liz
What was your high light of the Pink Ribbon Calendar experience?
So far it has been hearing the women’s inspiring stories of courage and determination. Then also seeing the sparkle in their eyes and hearing the laughter, camaraderie and sharing that went on while we were body painting.
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They’ve already gotten a bit of media attention. Campbell Live visited their first photo shoot and Next Magazine is doing a ‘Making of’ photo essay about the calendar in their October issue. But they need your help! This about getting the support of the community to get this message out there – so please pledge on their PledgeMe project, share the story, and raise awareness!
