Youth Mental Health Fundraiser at BayFit

On Saturday 4th February, BayFit Leisure Centre held a fundraiser run by Laughing Otter CEO, Jeff Bogensberger. A successful businessman turned social entrepreneur, in hopes to improve the lives of our youth.

Jeff has a goal to raise $10,000 towards the Kokoda Youth Foundation. The Kokoda Youth Foundation is a local charity that provides experiential youth programs aimed at building resilience and confidence in young people as well as encouraging values such as courage, endurance and mateship. The name is inspired by the sacrifice and strength the Australian Soldiers exhibited fighting along the Kokoda track in World War Two.

By donating to the Kokoda Youth Foundation, you are supporting programs that support kids for volunteering in the community, outdoor education, hiking adventures, specialised camps and cultural education workshops. You can read more about Kokoda Youth foundation success stories here. (https://kokodayouthfoundation.com/success-stories/)

Jeff had some time to sit with us and chat about the strong impact that he is having on his local community.When asked what drove him to pursue this path, it was clear in the way he spoke that he had a deep passion for helping others. He spoke of how challenging COVID-19 was for so many people and how the difficulties in the world aren’t particularly getting easier with everything going on in the world that we hear on the news.

Jeff and a few others set up ‘camp’ at BayFit, cooking a mean sausage sizzle and selling ice hockey pucks- a diehard Toronto Maple Leafs fan just couldn’t resist promoting his favourite sport.

On the day, the BayFit visitors were hungry after a swim or hard workout and took a big bite out of their fundraising goal. Jeff will also be filming in September as a special guest for Adventure All Stars, a 7 Network TV show that mixes travel and charity.

We thank Jeff for doing his bit for our local community and wish him all the best in his fundraising efforts.