Archive: August 2009

Choptober

Tue 25 August 2009

What is Choptober?

In a nutshell, Choptober is an annual fundraising event where people grow their sideburns (“chops”) for charity during the month of October...

Choptober was created by Jeremy Mould and Seton Lillas: a couple of Kiwi lads who wanted to start a locally owned and run fundraiser where 100% of the donations received during the campaign would go straight to Kiwi charities. Choptober is raising money for five Kiwi charities including SIDS. How does Choptober work?

People who are keen to participate in Choptober ("Chop Growers") can register through http://www.choptober.co.nz. During registration they will be asked to nominate one of our five charities as the charity they wish to support.

Come October 1st participants start growing their chops and recruiting friends, family, colleagues and even complete strangers to sponsor them.

Donations from sponsors are collected via the Choptober website and passed in-full and direct to the "Chop Growers" nominated charity – no commissions, fees or cuts.

Charities get 100% of the money raised because the Choptober event is run using the personal funds of its founding members Jeremy and Seton, the kindness of Kiwi organisations that donate their services and of course their friends and family. The organisations that are involved have donated approximately $100,000 in goods and services to the campaign thus far.

Who can participate?

Anyone and everyone! If you’re keen to support children’s charities then Choptober is for you.

You can participate by growing your chops, and/or by sponsoring someone who’s growing theirs.

Growing sideburns isn’t just for the blokes...we want all the women of New Zealand to take part too. Ladies can sculpt their hair to simulate sideburns, or use our patented fake sideburns (Chop Sticks) to create the desired look.

We have enlisted a number of "Celebrity Chop Growers" to lead the hair growing charge. Some of the names confirmed to participate thus far include Head Like A Hole, Quentin Pongia, Robbett Hollis (Host Of SnowTV), Karl Burnett, Michele A'Court, Mike King and Jason Napier (of facebook fame). ]

Ok, I’m keen to participate. What should I do next?

"Chop Growers" can register to take part at http://www.choptober.co.nz. You’ll find everything you need to know about Choptober on the website.

To keep up-to-date with the latest Choptober news and become part of the community you can:
Join our facebook group @ http://www.choptober.co.nz/facebook
Follow us on twitter @ http://www.choptober.co.nz/twitter

And keep your eyes and ears peeled: you’ll see Choptober cropping up in all sorts of places.