AUSTRALIA—Philadelphia Church of God members across Africa and Oceania participated in the region’s most successful flower fundraiser to date on Mother’s Day, May 11. Members from 11 congregations raised tens of thousands of dollars within the 24-hour period.
This year, several new congregations joined the effort, including Tasmania and Perth, Australia; Christchurch, New Zealand, and Harare, Zimbabwe.
Most congregations did prep work the week prior to Sunday, with the final push coming Saturday night after services. Volunteers created carefully organized production lines of men, women and children who produced the flower arrangements. Those not involved in the assembly line painted signs or helped with logistics.
On Sunday morning, members region-wide set up their tables, gazebos and signs to sell their flower arrangements to passersby. The week prior, the forecast was for rain, but the day turned out to be warm and sunny with cloud cover—perfect selling conditions.
Australia
From the six congregations in Australia that participated, most exceeded their profits from last year. Sydney earned a 108-percent increase year over year.
“It went incredibly well: no dramas, no issues whatsoever, plenty of miracles,” Sydney fundraiser coordinator Ross Macdonald said. “It went a lot better than expected.” He attributed the success of Sydney’s fundraising efforts to organization and preparation beforehand. “Everyone knew where to go and what to do; the numbers were all calculated out,” he said. “On the day, God definitely made up the difference with perfect weather and a lot of customers, with five or six fantastic sites that really took the pressure off early, and a great start to the day made the rest of the day really easy. The miracles and the early start made for an early finish.”
Donna King, who volunteered many early mornings to gather all flowers from the markets, said the process went “unbelievably smooth.” She experienced many miracles along the way, including finding favor with the Gerber Farmer she did business with, who promised to discount the bunches for her next year. The Sydney congregation raised a total profit of us$10,340.
The Brisbane congregation came in a close second with a 78 percent increase over last year and a total profit of $10,260 Preaching Elder Aaron Hudson said that despite having a few problems with competitors setting up flower stands close by, “[i]t was one of the best unifying fund raisers we’ve ever had for the building fund, with most of the congregation participating, from the young to the elderly.”
“It is our most important fundraiser of the year, firstly because we only have about 11 adult members, but also because it raises more than all the other fundraisers combined and for only two days’ effort,” Melbourne Local Church Elder Andrew Kennedy said. “It’s also grown considerably over the years. Our initial effort was au$450 [us$420] profit, which has grown steadily over the years as we’ve refined the process.” Melbourne raised $4,208 this year.
Member Paul Morris led Adelaide’s efforts to make $1,604 profit, despite a serious last-minute setback with the flower wholesaler increasing its price significantly. Perth made $1,708 in its first-year effort, led by contact person Victor Ralls. Tasmania raised $420.
“For me personally, the most encouraging aspect of this year’s Mother’s Day fundraiser was the effort from the Western Australia members,” Local Church Elder Matthew Robinson said.“The Perth congregation has never sold Mother’s Day flowers before, so it was with a certain sense of the unknown that everyone approached this activity.”
Late Regional Director Max Rumler’s goal was realized this Mother’s Day after the profits from Australia were all tabulated together. Last year he said, “I see this fundraising activity as something we have not yet fully exploited, and believe it can be significantly enhanced with more streamlined planning and organization … and believe that next year we should be able to raise au$30,000 [us$28,000] nationally, just by working smarter.” This Mother’s Day, Australia raised a grand total of $28,547.
New Zealand/Philippines/South Africa/Zimbabwe
Other congregations across the region also participated in the fundraiser. Christchurch earned $546, and Filipino members in two cities raised a total of $1,929. Johannesburg, South Africa, earned $1,101 and Harare, Zimbabwe, earned $175.
“It was an excellent effort by everyone, particularly those in the third-world countries,” Regional Director John Macdonald said. “The benefits are not just financial; the benefits to God’s Work of learning to work and cooperate with each other following God’s structure far outweighs the actual financial benefit.”