Years ago, Brett Macdonald and his friends had the time of their lives backpacking across Australia. After many conversations, they realized that heavy alcohol use had become a staple in their lives. This led them to creating a “sober competition” to see who could abstain from drinking the longest. From this, a global fundraising and awareness initiative was born. Brett is now the Managing Director of EzyRaise, a global fundraising platform, whose campaigns include Dry July Australia, Take on Addiction, and the latest, Sober October USA.

In this podcast, Brett talks about:

• The history of Sober October campaigns in other countries
• How SMART Recovery became the partner and beneficiary for the US campaign
• Why and how to get involved with Sober October
• The benefits of abstaining from alcohol
• Coming to your own conclusions about alcohol
• Useful features for participants, including an alcohol calculator and calendar
• There is still time to join Sober October and support those in recovery