the story so far

The concept of the ‘I Am Challenge’ charity organisation was born when two friends, Dan and Ben were having a philosophical discussion. We felt that we were living only for ourselves and for a ‘cause’ that was only beneficial to us. We were both heavily involved and passionate about our activities in church and school, but in 2008, we decided to do something different. We were going to do something for a cause greater than ourselves and ultimately for the benefit of others.

We then encountered a slight problem: We are both extremely passionate about aid work and the need for development in third world countries. But there was no way we could afford to travel to Africa or Asia to offer our assistance as we are still at school and do not have sufficient income to support such a venture.

So Ben and I started looking for possible charity organisations that we could help around Auckland. We were quite discouraged about how we could not volunteer consistently at any one charity which is when we started to think about:

How can youth be involved with charity and aid work 24/7 and still be doing it for a charity they are passionate about?

The answer: ‘The One Year T-shirt Challenge’

Where the participant wears the same shirt with the phrase ‘i am name’ for the whole year. The message behind our shirts: I am who I am and am making a difference.

The T-shirt challenge is simple, eye-catching and an immediate talking point. We have found they make a huge statement to whoever we are meeting, are visual proof of our challenge and generate a large amount of support.
We are currently seeking sponsorship from friends, family, businesses and clubs for the small sacrifice we are making in our own lives for a cause greater than ourselves.