We can always rely on the Australian public to get behind the great work of our scientists on Jeans for Genes Day, but this year was particularly special as everyone was inspired by our Double Your Dollar campaign.

This year as part of Jeans for Genes Day on August 2nd, we were given $125,000 by some generous private donors to be used to double all public donations made to our website within a specific timeframe. We were overwhelmed with the response and so excited to reach our target much faster than we could ever have imagined!

One week after Jeans for Genes Day, we have reached an incredible $650,000 in donations since the beginning of 2019.

Children’s Medical Research Institute’s Director, Professor Roger Reddel, thanked everyone around Australia who took part in Double Your Dollar and fundraised for us by wearing jeans to work, holding ‘Bake It Blue’ cake stalls, or just reaching deep into their pocket.

“Jeans for Genes continues to be a success because it shines a light on the difficulties faced by the 1 in 20 children with a birth defect or genetic disease, and the challenges our talented researchers face in finding cures, ‘’ Professor Reddel said.

“We thank the Australian public for never failing to care about these children and for supporting our scientists who want to make diseases that were once incurable, curable.’’

While the big day may be over, people continue to hold their own Jeans for Genes events throughout Australia. Some of the children who were the faces of this year’s campaign, like Iluka and Charlize, are holding fundraisers at their schools this month.

We have businesses doing walkathons, individuals doing fun runs, and our first ever Jeans for Genes Day ‘Bake it Blue’ events were such a success that they are also being rolled out by schools, groups and offices nation-wide.

If you’d like more ideas about how to raise funds for us, visit jeansforgenes.org.au – it’s never too late to show your support!