I have a number written down. Eighty-eight dogs, eighty-eight cats, eighty-eight children. It is not a metaphor and it is not a marketing goal. It is the thing I quietly measure a year against when I am deciding whether it actually went well.
It started with four children in Thailand
In my early twenties, long before I ever imagined I would end up living here, I sponsored four children in Thailand through World Vision. I was not wealthy. I just remember working out that the money I was about to spend on something forgettable could cover somebody’s school year instead.
I supported them until they were old enough to stand on their own two feet, and the program ended the way it is supposed to. Two decades later I live an hour’s flight from where those letters used to come from. I still find that strange and rather lovely.
The dogs found me, not the other way round
Adopting from Phuket was never a plan. Both of our dogs were homeless, and both arrived with the particular wariness of an animal that has learned people are unpredictable.
What nobody tells you about a rescue is how long the trust takes. There is no single moment where it clicks. There is just showing up, the same way, at the same time, for months, until one day the flinch is gone and you realise you missed the exact moment it left.
I think about that more often than I expected to in business. Trust is not a campaign. It is repetition that somebody eventually notices.
What I fund now, and why
Here in Thailand I support the volunteers who look after street dogs — feeding them, treating wounds, covering vet bills, and pulling them out of situations they would not otherwise survive. It is not organised and it is not branded, and it is some of the most effective giving I have ever done.
In Australia I support Iron Dog Rescue, a no-kill Rottweiler shelter. Big dogs are the hardest to rehome and the easiest to write off, which is precisely why they need somebody in their corner.
And during Covid we began sponsoring children through Compassion Australia — eight of them so far, all from the Philippines. We chose Compassion for a specific reason: one of our dental clients is deeply involved in their work. I did not want to pick a charity off a list. I wanted one that somebody I trust had already vouched for. It also happens to be a country that supports us, since part of our team is based there.
Why eighty-eight
Eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture, and doubling it felt like the right kind of ambitious — big enough to be uncomfortable, small enough to stay real.
Mostly, though, it is a way of tying growth to something other than growth. If the businesses have a strong year and that number has not moved, then the year did not go the way I wanted it to.
Karma responds to kindness. The more you give, the more the Universe opens up for you.
I am nowhere near eighty-eight yet. But I like having a number that cannot be negotiated down just because the quarter got busy.