With August now upon us, the Dry July fundraiser is over for another year and those who’ve spent the last month refraining from alcohol can, in the words of a former Victoria premier, “get on the beers”.
Among the Dry July participants doing just that is Altona North’s Madeline Jekic, who plans to have a few drinks with her girlfriends after spending the last few weekends as their designated driver.
Not that the 22 year-old found being a teetotaler difficult.
“I’ve actually enjoyed it,” said Ms Jekic, adding that she feels healthier and saved a lot of money.
More importantly, she raised a lot of money too, $3600 to be precise, all of which will go towards the Pancare Foundation, which supports Australians living with upper gastrointestinal cancers.
It’s a cause that’s close to Ms Jekic’s heart as her father, Bernhard, died from stage 4 oesophageal cancer two years ago.
“I saw my dad suffer for two years,” she said.
“He fought so hard every day to be here for my siblings and I (Ms Jekic has an old brother and younger sister) so it was nothing at all to have to be sober for a month.”
And while the sober part is over, the fundraising continues, with Dry July donations still being accepted up until August 31.
As for future fundraisers, Ms Jekic said she’d like to take on a very different challenge.
“I’m also very active and into sport, so I’d love to do a half marathon eventually.”
To donate: https://www.dryjuly.com/users/madeline-jekic
