Congratulations to Tammy Morris from Summerland credit Union – just back from her fundraising trip to Cambodia!
Tammy, a Senior Banking Advisor, single-handedly raised a huge $5,580.00 towards CUFA’s international projects in the Asia-Pacific region. We sat down armed with a barrage of questions for her, and here’s what she had to say:
“I LOVED Cambodia, the people, the sights, the food and the CUFA staff. I really enjoyed the cycling, especially going through the jungle coming out onto the temples! I felt like Indiana Jones…
Last year I hadn’t been with Summerland very long when I saw in our weekly news Bulletin that Greg Wilson from our IT Department went to Cambodia with CUFA (I had no idea what this meant at the time but remember being a bit jealous).
This year, when the call went out for staff to submit expressions of interest to take up the CUFA Leadership Challenge for either Cambodia or Fiji, I jumped at the chance. I did do a little research first to find out what it entailed. Who wouldn’t want to do it????
I wanted to go to see firsthand how the funds raised actually helped the people they were raised for.
My cycling preparation wasn’t too serious, but I’ve been a bike rider for many years (for fun) so I made sure I did some longer rides of 20 to 40 kms. I live near the beach and enjoyed long rides on the sand at low tide as part of my training.
My fundraising included approaching some of Summerland’s business partners and asking outright for a donation ($1,300 came from them). I work on the front counter and serve customers every day, so I also ran a $2 club. This was a sheet of 100 numbered squares and I sold these to customers and staff, with the winner getting $100 and my fundraiser getting $100 (I made $600 from this).
The rest came from a big raffle: tickets were sold to customers and staff alike, with many staff at other branches supporting me with sales. I approached many businesses to sponsor me with a voucher that I could raffle off. I had 32 prizes in all: 1st prize was 3 nights’ accommodation from a hotel, 2nd prize was a $500 voucher from our local travel agent and 3rd prize was a $100 dinner voucher.
My most enduring memory would definitely be meeting my Village Entrepreneur, Rorn Pich. I only started sponsoring her in May this year. I had Phearun and Sola (from CUFA) take me to the market first and bought some food staples, shoes and a bicycle for her little girl. I found out on the day I went to visit her that she had lost her youngest child due to lack of accessible medical attention. She was a bit overwhelmed, but I could tell that she was grateful. I could also see the sadness in her eyes over her loss. This made it bittersweet.
In Cambodia I met quite a few people, but Phearun from CUFA was my main man and I can’t say enough good things about him! I enjoyed meeting the other CUFA staff, the children and teachers in the schools, the savings bank volunteer staff, the elders of the communities, the Village Entrepreneurs and of course Heng, who was our cycling guide.
My activities were, of course, the cycling but I also got to visit the temples, the Silk factory, the Artesian centre, hiking and swimming in a waterfall, I took a ride on a bamboo train, took a boat ride on the Mekong river with the CUFA staff, visited the royal Palace and did a bit of shopping to pick up some great mementos.
My advice to anyone thinking about taking on a challenge with CUFA – in the words of Nike – JUST DO IT!!
I believe if everyone gave just a little more, the world would be a much better place for all.
Warmest Regards
Tammy Morris
PS I want to do it again next year!!”
We’re in awe of you, Tammy! Ready for your own CUFA Leadership Challenge? Find out more here.
