Chomper challenge - GoFundMe appeal to fix Councillor’s teeth

TRUSTED online crowd-funding platform, GoFundMe, has launched an appeal for $30,000 to fix Bass Coast Shire Councillor Geoff Ellis’ teeth.

The public appeal was initiated by a friend of the councillor, Jen Rutherford, with Cr Ellis’ blessing.

Geoff is not a wealthy man, says Ms Rutherford in her pitch, and he needs tens of thousands of dollars to restore his smile.

The public campaign, listed as a ‘medical’ appeal, “to correct his condition and bring his smile back”, is in good company.

Here are some of the other medical appeals on the GoFundMe website:

* Shamsher Singh, a new arrival in Australia, is seeking $95,000 for a double kidney transplant or he will die ($47,140 already raised).

* Jenaya Shaw, recently diagnosed with a stage three malignant brain tumor, needs $35,000 for treatment and operations ($27,148 already raised).

* The grandparents of ‘Baby ‘G’, born with a rare condition called moyamoya disease, a progressive cerebrovascular disorder caused by blocked arteries at the base of the brain, are seeking $50,000 ($47,807 raised) for life-saving brain surgery due to take place in November 2023. (Search Gofundme for ‘Monika needs life-saving brain surgery’).

* And in one of many ‘medical’ success stories, Tai's community raised $110,000 to help him after a spinal-cord injury.

So far, the $30,000 appeal for Cr Ellis’s teeth has attracted $90 in donations: Jen Rutherford chipping in $20, Ashlee Considine also $20 and “anonymous” $50.

“Have you laughed until your face hurt lately? Head-thrown back, eyes watering, jawbone aching slightly from your wide-open mouth?” asks Ms Rutherford of Geoff’s network of friends and colleagues via the GoFundMe page.

“It must be terribly taxing and tiresome, maybe even isolating and depressing to be on alert to muffle a smile. Geoff is someone who hides his smile because of an issue he has with his pearly whites.

“I am reaching out to his network of friends and colleagues to ask you to make a donation that will enable Geoff to pay the tens of thousands of dollars required to pay for dental surgery to correct his condition and bring his smile back.

“It's such a personal thing... our bodies, teeth. I didn't know whether Geoff would be open to this fundraising initiative, and I know he's not a wealthy man and it took some courage to broach it with him. I just thought; if it was me, I'd love some help and he felt the same way so onward. Let's do this thing.”

Cr Ellis receives an annual allowance of $31,980 from the Bass Coast Shire Council.

If you want to donate, search for ‘Geoff’s Smile’ on GoFundMe or enter this in your search engine: gofundme.com/f/geoffs-smile