Rare Cancers Australia (RCA) has created a unique event which sees grass roots patient organisations from across the Asia Pacific region pitch an innovative project for the chance to win US$20,000 to turn their idea into reality for the patients they support.
Called Pitch for Pinnacle, this year’s free event is on Friday, 9 December and will be hosted live at the Arthouse in Singapore and streamed online globally
“Think Shark Tank, but for charities. While there is a friendly competition element to inject some fun in the process, no one leaves empty handed. All teams who participate are provided with expert support and guidance so that they can continue to work towards their goal at home,” Christina Cho, Pinnacle Lead at RCA said
“That’s what sets Pitch for Pinnacle apart. It is ultimately about encouraging collaboration, information sharing and learning amongst often isolated grass roots organisations – this has been so important in our post pandemic world which has seen so many charities struggle to secure funds and support
“We have seen first-hand what can be achieved with the power of collaboration and connection and that is what underpins all our work in Australia and beyond, and this rings true for Pitch for Pinnacle.”
This year’s Pitch for Pinnacle event will feature teams from
- Vietnam - The Vietnamese Organization for Rare Diseases would like to build a wheelchair recycling project with Rekbike4kids to enable patients to access free wheelchairs and to improve their quality of life
- Philippines - The Kythe Foundation supports children in the Philippines living with cancer and other chronic illnesses. They would like to secure funds to create a special doll that will educate, engage and make children feel safe as they undergo treatment
- South Korea – The Korean Parkinson’s Disease Association is participating in Pitch for Pinnacle to research and create a patient-focused, evidence-based support program for patients
- Singapore - The Ostomy Association of Singapore supports people in Singapore who have had an ostomy operation. The purpose of their project is to retrofit existing public bathrooms with a shelf and hook to give ostomates more confidence to move around in the community
- Japan - Kibonokai supports Japanese patients with scirrhous gastric cancer. Their project focuses on developing a patient education program in collaboration with the Japanese Gastric Cancer Society and the Japanese Clinical Oncology Research Group.
Each team has been working on their presentation for the event over the past few months with guidance from a specialist Pitch for Pinnacle coach – experts from the health and corporate sectors.
The team that secures the prize money in 2022 will follow in the footsteps of last year’s inaugural Pitch for Pinnacle winner, Breast Cancer Network Vietnam
“We were so excited to be a part of Pitch for Pinnacle last year. We wanted to use the opportunity to pitch our product line designed to meet the massive demand for tailored bras and coverings for Vietnamese breast cancer patients who have had mastectomies,” Nguyen Thuy Tien, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Breast Cancer Network Vietnam shared
“Many of these women had told us that they were struggling to find anything affordable that would fit their new shape properly. They were also sick of many products focusing too much on medical functions and ignoring the feminine aspects which impacted on mental recovery
“We used the prize money from Pitch for Pinnacle to start developing a new range of affordable, stylish and fully customisable bras and breast coverings for women in Vietnam, made 100% in Vietnam. We have made a couple of prototypes already, sent them to patients for feedback and we hope to launch these later this year.
Pitch for Pinnacle is a part of RCA’s Pinnacle program, a peer-to-peer mentoring program which aims to build a network of support for patient organisations across the Asia Pacific region
While RCA focuses on supporting Australians living with rare, less common and complex cancers, in recent years the not-for-profit has also been working with patient organisations in the Asia Pacific region after seeing first-hand the challenges faced in the region and the power collaboration can have in striving for change
You can stream the free Pitch for Pinnacle online event on Friday, 9 December at 3.30pm (AEST)