Well, sort of… We have been able to lock in dates for Gold Coast and Brisbane, but as Victoria tackles a rise in more cases of COVID-19 and another toilet paper buying frenzy, we are yet to be able to confirm a date for the 2021 Melbourne Kokoda Challenge. But never fear, when we do confirm a date you will all be the first to know!
So, here it is folks, the dates for the 2021 Brisbane and Gold Coast Kokoda Challenges:
Brisbane: 5-6th of June, 2021
Gold Coast: 17-18th of July, 2021
We haven’t opened up registrations just yet as we are working on some very, VERY exciting new things for you to make 2021 the biggest and best Kokoda Challenge that you’ve ever experienced! We’re using this down time to make sure that we deliver you with the best event next year for the following reasons:
- We know how loyal so many of you are to the Kokoda Challenge community and who have been participating in this event year after year. We are looking forward to delivering you some new and exciting features in the lead up to the event and on the bid day itself!
- Like many registered charities and non-profit organisations, we suffered great financial loss as a result of COVID-19. The reality is that in order to be able to keep helping Aussie kids like we have been doing for so many years now, we need all of our Kokoda Challenge events to be bigger and better than ever before to raise some much needed funds for our Kokoda Kids.
- Lastly, we can either sit around and twiddle our thumbs or go to the supermarket and buy mountains of toilet paper, or we can use this time wisely to look at all the ways we can improve on our events. So, that’s what we’re doing! On that note, if you have any suggestions on how you think we can improve our events then we would love to hear from you! Drop us a line at media@kokodachallenge.com to provide us with some feedback, it’s always appreciated!
So, what have we been doing exactly during this down time? While we would love to be able to tell you about all the wonderful things we have planned for next year, we don’t want to spoil the surprise! So you’ll just have to sit tight and wait until registrations are open to find out.
However, our humble little Kokoda team has been taking this time to reconnect with each other, which is exactly why not long ago we ventured out into the Gold Coast hinterland for a team bonding day!
While we perhaps didn’t choose the best day for it (the weather went from blue skies to monsoon type rain real quick), COO Johlenne, Admin Manager Joy and Marketing Manager Jessica had a wonderful time exploring the Waterfall Circuit in Springbrook National Park!
Whilst on the track, the girls managed to sneak in some time between climbing mountains for a few quick fire questions so you can get to better know the masterminds behind the events that you all love so much!
First up, meet Joy! Her name couldn’t better describe her personality! Many of you would have seen her smiling face around before as she’s been a part of the Kokoda Community since 2007 and has been volunteering and working for the Kokoda Youth Foundation ever since!
We’re forever grateful for Joy’s dedication and commitment to KYF, she has worked tirelessly for many years behind the scenes to make sure we run smoothly and successfully and above all is oh-so passionate about helping our Kokoda Kids!
Not to mention she is also a crazy plant lady and has filled our office with an abundance of greenery and delectably smelly candles making it even more of a treat to step into the office every day!
Next up we have Johllene who is our Chief Operating Officer. Joh has recently come back on board to work for the Kokoda Youth Foundation and we couldn’t be happier about it! Joh has an extensive history with KYF; she was a Leader of the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program in 2008, which was also the year she completed the 96km Kokoda Challenge with 28 of our Kokoda Kids!
While the start of Joh’s journey joining the Kokoda Community once again this year hasn’t exactly gone to plan given the cancellation of our 2020 events. She is determined that next year will be bigger and better than ever before to make up for the losses we suffered this year and to help transform the lives of more Aussie kids!
Lastly, we have Jessica who has been our Marketing Manager since early this year. Jess moved up here from Melbourne to join KYF in our mission to raise as much funds for KCYP and help as many kids as possible! A difficult task given the cancellation of all of our events but Jess was the one who brought to you the Kokoda Virtual Challenge, which was a godsend for many of us during these unprecedented times. Firstly because it meant we were forced to be active for the month of May and secondly because the Kokoda Community collectively raised $17,500.00 for the Kokoda Youth Foundation which helped our cause enormously during these difficult times.
