Fundraiser Night + Auction Wrap Up! – Sat 22nd Aug 2026

We’re still recovering (in the best way) from an absolute ripper of a Fundraiser Night a few weeks ago on Saturday 22 August — which also marked the grand finale of our 3-week online auction. The vibe was high, the room was buzzing, and the good vibes were doing laps.

New friends, long-time supporters, our founder Travis Fitch, and the 12 Buckets team all gathered to raise money for our programs — and to be honest, it was also a pretty great excuse to laugh together as a team, share stories of impact from our young people, and introduce what we do to some brand-new faces. Raffle prizes were won, bids were going off, and together… we absolutely smashed our fundraising goal.

Across the auction, over 100 items were bid on, with 744 bids and more than 19,000 page views (which we’re pretty sure were mostly our CEO Larissa… “just checking” one more time). In total, the auction raised a mind-blowing $24,377.72 — not bad at all for our first ever online auction!

And then the Fundraiser Night came in strong too, raising an incredible $7,365. Even better: 13 kids whose parents were at the event raised over $1,380 between them. Kids supporting kids is honestly the kind of thing that makes your heart do a little happy dance.

A very special thank you to Jo Woods from AOJ Woods Foundation for dedicating your time and effort to help make the night such a success. Your knowledge and passion brought people together from different circles and filled the room with people keen to learn more about 12 Buckets — we’re so grateful.

And to all the amazing businesses who donated goods and services: we literally wouldn’t have had an auction without you. From priceless memorabilia to handmade goodness, special getaways and unique experiences — our auction had it all because of your generosity (and excellent taste).

Thank you to Gemma and Jamie from Stanford Barbers in Leederville for opening your doors and trusting us with your beautiful space. It was the perfect venue for the night.

And yes… there was some big news announced on the night, but we’re saving that for a follow-up post. Stay tuned.

In Jo’s welcome speech, she captured the heart of 12 Buckets beautifully:

“For those who don’t know much about 12 Buckets, what I love about this organisation is that what they do is actually incredibly simple. They find kids who could really benefit from having someone in their corner and they put someone in their corner. Someone who sees them. Someone who believes in them. Someone who notices their strengths and helps them imagine what might be possible for their future. And I think sometimes we underestimate just how powerful that can be. As adults most of us can probably think of someone who changed the trajectory of our lives a little bit.

A parent. A teacher. A coach. A family friend.

Someone who showed up. Who saw something in us that perhaps we couldn’t quite see in ourselves yet. And when we talk about privilege we often think about money, power, opportunity, where you live or the school you go to. But I think one of the greatest privileges a child can have is much simpler than that. It’s having an adult who consistently shows up for them… that’s what I find so powerful about 12 Buckets.”