Originally, the team hoped to raise $10,000, but surpassed that amount before the month started.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve bumped the goal to $40k and are three-quarters of the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m surprised by it but I don\u2019t feel any sense of ownership over it because everybody\u2019s come to the table with their own story and motivations and the reason why they\u2019ve either joined us or just donated,\u201d Pooley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t thought that it would become a vehicle for other people to also sort of pay tribute to people in their lives as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pooley\u2019s motivation comes from clients and friends from his personal training work.<\/p>\n
A particular case was a family he knows from a gym, and he trained the mum and daughter.<\/p>\n
One week, the father was doing his own workouts, and within a week, he succumbed to cancer, Pooley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d been battling it the whole time, and 99% of us never even knew about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe sort of turned in one week and then all of a sudden he was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was upsetting to see how cancer was a wrecking ball amid a happy family, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember when I was training his daughter \u2026 when he walked into the gym, her eyes lit up and she goes, \u2018oh, my dad\u2019s here\u2019. I always just remember that look on her face.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mum, who was a keen trainer and health conscious, was also distraught to lose her partner, Pooley said.<\/p>\n
Personal experience of friends and clients dealing with cancer diagnoses is motivating Ezra Pooley and his colleagues in their fundraising effort in July. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of times she had come in and I\u2019d sort of look at her and be like, you okay? And she would burst into tears,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I was still proud of her for turning up and everything. She was trying to keep everything going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devastatingly, she now faces her own cancer fight with a prognosis of only months left to live.<\/p>\n
The daughters face losing both parents in about 18 months, he said.<\/p>\n
To do 330 burpees each day for a month, pushing himself to where he is almost sick, is not a big deal when he thinks of the family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people who are affected in our circle are people who are ultra fit and healthy – healthier than me,\u201d Pooley said. <\/p>\n
\u201cNothing\u2019s ever guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pooley founded EPPT in 2014 and three years ago expanded to build a team of personal trainers.<\/p>\n
Each year the team of personal trainers undertake a philanthropic goal.<\/p>\n
In 2026, they were unsure which cause to support, but the number of cancer stories they were hearing and witnessing, either directly or secondhand, made choosing the Cancer Society obvious, Pooley said.<\/p>\n
When they started their Move Against Cancer campaign, more people within their network of clients and the four Hamilton gyms where the team operates started sharing their own stories. <\/p>\n
Donations, both large and small, flowed in.<\/p>\n
Another client, businessman John Cook, whom Pooley worked with and admired for his own philanthropic work, counselled him on the project.<\/p>\n
At one stage, Pooley was thinking the fundraising was small fry.<\/p>\n
The EPPT team of Elandre Van Der Merwe, left, Alston Lewis, Joshua Gibbs, Ezra Pooley and Jake White kick into a session of burpees at the Chartwell volunteer fire station. The station’s firefighters are also taking part in the fundraiser. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n
\u201cYou start to think, oh, if I\u2019m just aiming for $10,000, it\u2019s good, and it\u2019s big for us, but is it really going to make that much of a difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then when John, with his experience, gives you that reminder to say, \u2018hey, this cancer treatment stuff is really going somewhere and if it wasn\u2019t for these smaller movements we wouldn\u2019t be where we are with it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cook also gifted $10,000 to Move Against Cancer, and it was one of his last acts as he was battling cancer himself. <\/p>\n
He died when Pooley was on day six of the burpee challenge. <\/p>\n
The pair spoke on the phone a week and a half earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even recognise him when I heard his voice, because as I said, he was always a fit strong guy,\u201d Pooley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like a struggle for him to get a few words out. He was talking so slowly and so softly that I kept accidentally interrupting him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was really what changed it all for me, to be honest. Let\u2019s really push, let\u2019s really make something happen with this – give it our best shot to make it as significant as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pooley isn\u2019t alone on the burpees.<\/p>\n
Fellow EPPT coach Jake White is doing the full 10,000 while training for boxing, the rest of the team are participating in support events and a group of volunteer firefighters, from the Chartwell station, are sharing 10,000 between them, about 30 each per day.<\/p>\n
Getting near the end of their daily burpee session, the pain kicks in for Ezra Pooley, left, and Jake White. Both men are committed to completing 10,000 during July to raise funds for the Cancer Society. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n
The EPPT team are also running a quiz and auction night and are about to launch a raffle thanks to generous gifts provided by Hamilton businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a good cause there are a lot of people and a lot of businesses out there who are ready to put their best foot forward, which is really cool,\u201d Pooley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the shoe was on the other foot I would appreciate it if people were doing this type of stuff for me too. I think it\u2019s just important to express that type of stuff. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t realise once we started this how strong that feeling is in other people as well.\u201d<\/p>\n