Hello Sunday Morning is a special program designed to challenge Australia's binge drinking culture. Under the leadership of Young Queenslander of the Year Chris Raine, the program recently saw 3,500 people spend 12 weeks or more without drinking and sharing their story of change through a blog on hellosundaymorning.com. We want to help the program reach 6,500 more people by 2013. Your funding will buy:
• 120,000 hangover-free Sundays
• $18,000,000 dollars saved by not spending on alcohol (assuming an individual spends $150 per week over three months)
• 30,000 individual stories told through innovative approaches to social media that suggest you can enjoy life without needing alcohol
• A widespread challenge to our drinking culture, which is fuelling other problems such as increased rates of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, obesity, mental illness and violence.
Hello Sunday Morning takes an innovative approach in its use of social media, which is a powerful tool, especially amongst young people. It differs from and complements other important initiatives such as Dry July and FebFast (single-month programs with a fundraising focus). Researching what has been successful to date in implementing the program, we now understand what it is about Hello Sunday Morning that makes it effective, namely; community support, accountability and reflection. This funding will launch Hello Sunday Morning on a national playing field, complementing top-down government campaigns with an effective grassroots movement.
Know how YOU are making a difference
We will work directly with Hello Sunday Morning to report on the numbers of people who commit to a period of sobriety and help share their stories of change. We will also provide information through this website on the challenges of alcohol consumption and how they can be addressed. We invite you to visit the website and to even take on the challenge yourself!
Funding required
Hello Sunday Morning has now raised $200,000, including from Queensland Health, to support operations in Queensland. We are now looking to raise a further $300,000 to help the program expand operations across the rest of Australia. The funding will enable Hello Sunday Morning to:
1) Rebuild the innovative online and offline program to support a growing community of people who would like to change the way they drink;
2) Undertake a nation-wide media campaign to share local stories of change, challenging the negative aspects of adrinking culture that costs Australia $36 billion and 3,000 lives every year;
3) Complete invaluable research into the culture of unsafe alcohol consumption designed to improve online programs (applicable to other health issues), government campaigns and programs.
For more information click here
The Harold Mitchell Foundation has launched the Australia Gives Initiative. Through the initiative, we will work with private and public sector partners to fund organisations and programs with a demonstrated capacity to make a major difference in our society and region.
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