Four-time world shot put champion Valerie Adams is fronting a new healthy fundraising video developed by ecostore using the humble cake of soap. The video was a collaboration between ecostore, Niki Schuck PR and filmed by Ponsonby-based The Influencers.
Adams, the IAAF Athlete of the Year in 2014, says she is all about being active and healthy and was impressed with the sugar-free fundraising alternative ecostore is introducing.
“I understand it’s really tough for groups to raise money and an easy fix is to sell chocolate, sweets and sausage sizzles, but New Zealand’s obesity rates are out of control and injecting more junk food into the community is the last thing our children need,” she said.
“So when I heard ecostore was working on this healthy initiative I wanted to help get the message out that there is a fundraising alternative for groups to use.”
ecostore founder Malcolm Rands said having Adams backing the Good Soap for a Good Cause initiative, where groups make a $1 profit from every individual soap sold, is huge.
“Val is an icon in New Zealand,” Rands said. “She’s the auntie every Kiwi kid wants, so to have her support is massive. Many of us don’t realise that when we reward with sweets we are actually creating a problem around obesity and early onset of diabetes.
“Right now 30% of New Zealand adults (1,069,000) and 10% of our children (79,000) are obese. That’s not just overweight but obese and just under half of those are Maori and Pacific Island children.
“The Ministry of Health predicts that obesity will become New Zealand’s leading risk to our health in 2016. Early onset diabetes is incredibly concerning for health implications going forward and I believe as a country we all need to be part of the solution. Doing good stuff is at the heart of our brand so this initiative is one way ecostore is trying to do our bit to encourage healthy communities.”
“It was a lot of fun recording the video,” Adams says. “I spent years fundraising to go to national tournaments and know first-hand what it’s like going door to door selling things. It’s character building and makes you want that title even more. I love that ecostore’s initiative is a healthy option that schools, early childhood centres, charities and not-for-profit organisations can use – and who doesn’t need soap!”
The individual cakes of soap come in a user-friendly carry carton of 24 with groups making $1 profit on every individual soap sold. ecostore has developed supporting material to assist groups including tips on successful selling, a tally sheet, a flyer to leave behind, a certificate to reward sellers, plus letter templates.
Rands says they have tried to think of everything fundraisers require to ensure well-deserving causes get maximum results.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for any group using our soaps to raise funds so we’ve developed everything you need. There are even options to personalise soaps with a message or a school stamp or sports team logo.”
As the fundraising coordinator at Freemans Bay Playcentre, Victoria Tupou was keen to find a way to raise money that would be easy for the parents of their playcentre.
“ecostore’s fundraising soaps are a healthy and a useful alternative to other fundraising products out there,” she says. “It’s a great fit for us, because we already use ecostore products within the centre. The packaging is cute and allowed us to add our own playcentre sticker. We sold the soaps so easily and people have commented to us what a great product it is. People just love it.”
Tupou says it’s a great benefit having easy online access to ecostore’s supportive fundraising material.
“As a busy mum, I’m often sorting out fundraising initiatives late at night, so it definitely helps to be able to access everything you need online,” she said. “I order the soaps and then download the tally sheet, sellers flyer, certificates – everything is provided.”
The soaps’ packaging has distinctive artwork by illustrator Rands’ daughter Ahi Rands. “People can purchase ecostore’s Good Soaps knowing they are nourishing, plant-based soaps that will clean your hands without drying out your skin and they are cruelty free too,” Rands said.
“As with all our ecostore products, the soap contains no nasty chemicals such as animal tallow, triclocarban and cocamidopropyl betaine and they are available in two fragrances Lemongrass and Grapefruit and Mint.”
About ecostore
Founded in NZ in 1993, ecostore proudly creates home care, personal care and baby care products that are gentle and safer for people, as well as the planet. With 30 full time employees, ecostore products are sold nationwide and internationally in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
ecostore manufactures its products at its ISO 14001, Enviro-Mark®NZ–Diamond, CarboNZero certified facility in Auckland. ecostore won two awards at the 2014 NZI National Sustainable Business Network Awards, the Mega Efficiency Innovation category and co-founder Malcolm Rands was the joint winner of the Sustainability Champion award. It has been voted by Kiwis as leading the way in sustainability in Colmar Brunton’s Better Business, Better World survey for three years running. Their laundry range again won the coveted Canstar Blue award for overall performance and value excellence (2012, 2013). In 2014 ecostore announced its range will be manufactured using plastic made from renewable sugarcane-based high-density polyethylene (HDPE) from Brazil. They are the first company in the world to replace their petro-chemical plastic bottles with what they term Carbon Capture Pak. Its main benefit is that as sugarcane grows it captures CO2 from the atmosphere, that is then stored in the plastic. This natural process actually reduces carbon footprint, which effectively helps to reduce climate change.
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