The Geelong Chamber of Commerce’s latest After 5 networking event marked a return to the public sphere for event host River’s Gift, Australia’s premier SIDS-based charity, after two years of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
In a touching presentation to 250 representatives of the Geelong business community at GMHBA stadium’s President’s Room, River’s Gift founders Alexandra Hamilton and Karl Waddell described their ongoing commitment to SIDS research and support.
“When COVID hit we went from doing events frequently and being really active within the community to doing things behind the scenes,” Alexandra said.
“We were still working with families, funding research, still educating, but not really out there in the business community.
“So we felt the After 5 event was a really great opportunity for us to get out there and talk about the work we do and how important it is.
“We were so thrilled, we had so many businesses come and say they really didn’t know what we did and how it really struck a chord with them.”
Alexandra and Karl lost their son River to SIDS in November, 2011, when he was just 128 days old.
In the aftermath, the couple looked into supporting SIDS research through an already-established charity, but struggled to find where to give their support.
“If, when we lost River, we could have found an organisation that was funding amazing SIDS research and just done a fundraiser and donated the money to them, it probably would have made our lives a lot easier,” Alexandra said.
“But there was a gap there. And we actually raised $15,000 through River’s funeral, so we sat with a researcher for probably eight hours, who took us through SIDS research in layman’s terms, and we thought, why is this not being funded?
“So that’s how we started. We sent early career researchers from Australia out to Harvard Medical School hoping they could come back and ignite research back here. Then we connected with the University of South Australia, and the research we’re doing there is world-leading, it’s never been done before.
“There was a gap, and we’d never run a charity before; we were just two parents that thought, this can’t happen anymore. Our son can’t just be a statistic that just happened.”
In Karl’s address to the After 5 event, he thanked the Geelong community for its ongoing support.
“If we’d started River’s Gift in Box Hill,would we have received the same kind of support we have from the people of Geelong?” he asked
“We’ll never know, but we can’t thank the community enough.”
Alexandra and Karl invited the public to get involved with River’s Gift’s Shine Blue appeal, which runs for the 128 days between July 2 and November 7 to mark the all-important 128 days of River’s life.
“We’re trying to get people to donate $128 between now and November 7, which is also River’s 11th anniversary,” Alexandra said.
“Even through COVID, when Karl and I had to step down and get other jobs, we’ve alway known, it doesn’t matter what happens, we’re never going to stop doing this.
“For us, we need to find out why River died. There’s no point just continuing to do safe sleep education, when a lot of these babies are safely slept, we need to find out what is happening to them.”
Chamber CEO Ben Flynn thanked River’s Gift for hosting the event and highlighted the importance of Alexandra and Karl’s work.
“River’s Gift has been a member for a long time, they’re very much part of the Chamber family,” Mr Flynn said.
“Tonight was a real reality check that showed how the great work River’s Gift does is so needed and so appreciated by those who get their support.”
