iCAN Challenge 

A Wantirna College Community Fundraising Event

Is there ANYTHING Wantirna College students can’t do? 

I seriously doubt it.

We called on our student body and broader school community to take on the challenge of walking 45km in a day to raise funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, and WOW, did they deliver!

On the last day of Term One, 32 students, 7 teachers and 3 parents, along with their amazing support crew walked from Frankston Foreshore to Port Melbourne, collectively raising over $26000 for the appeal.

The weather was ideal, the atmosphere amongst the team was energising and if ever there was an exercise in persistence and resilience, this was it. Pushing through cramps, blisters and swollen feet, every participant did their best and supported each other to the very end. Our support crew were fantastic in helping participants replenish water bottles, managing foot care and providing encouragement (and updates on our fundraising totals as they grew across the day).

The walk itself was the culmination of considerable effort beforehand. We offered regular training and extended training walks to give students a sense of what to expect given that most of the students had never walked distances beyond 12-15kms before. Students also had to rally the support of family, friends and local businesses to sponsor them in an effort to reach a fundraising goal of at least $500 each. Behind the scenes, we had teams of people putting together donated food options for our Aid Stations. Teamwork makes the dream work.

On Good Friday, Tanya Moran, Royce Van Haaster and Shonnie Van Haaster travelled to the city and represented our school on the Channel Seven broadcast of the Good Friday Appeal to present our ‘big cheque’… and while on air, our donation total ticked over $26000!

Thank you to everyone in the College community that donated to our fundraising total – every little bit made a big difference. Thank you also to the staff back on deck at school for taking extra classes to cover the staff participating in the walk, especially on the last day of what seemed like the longest term ever. And of course, our rock star support crew, we appreciate EVERYTHING that you did before and across the day.

Special thanks to the businesses that provided sponsorship and donations. Please support these businesses.

· Coles Rowville

· Tynan Electrics

· Micra Air

· Tee Junction

Finally, the iCan Challenge will return again in 2024 as a bi-annual event. We want it to be bigger and better than our inaugural event, so look for announcements in the future to find out how to be involved and start training now.

ican Challenge Team