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Record convoy for Canberra

The 2015 Canberra Convoy for Cancer Families on February 1 saw the trucking industry’s generosity highlighted yet again.

 

The nation’s capital played host to its biggest convoy ever when around 450 trucks and 400 motorbikes gathered on the outer Canberra suburb of Beard, near the New South Wales border and Queanbeyan.

However, this was not a mass of truck owners and drivers converging on Parliament House to protest against excessive charges, but rather a united major fund-raising event for the Cancer Support Group.

With hundreds of spectators lining the route, the convoy passed alongside Lake Burley Griffin en route to the suburb of Gungahlin for a day of festive fun and live music.

In the three years since the Canberra Convoy for Cancer Families was resurrected, the event has grown in stature.

Melissa Gardner, CEO of the ACT Eden Monaro’s Own Cancer Support Group, was thrilled at the number of participants, and that the event had raised more than $200,000.

“I’m not supposed to have that many trucks, but I can’t say no,” Melissa tells Owner//Driver.

“I just see 50 bucks, and I think that’s half a gift voucher I can give a family for a week.”

In addition to the convoy entry donations, spectators contributed another $7,600 through bucket collections at Gungahlin.

Mellissa explains that the ACT Eden Monaro’s Own convoy differs from similar events in that the funds raised goes towards cancer patients of all ages.

“One hundred percent goes back to the community and none gets used on wages, hence why we only three people in the office.

“So they know if they give us one dollar, a dollar goes back out. That’s the biggest thing with the support from the Canberra people; they know where their money’s going,” Melissa says.

“I think everyone knows someone who has gone through or who has cancer, either survived it or passed away, so they put their hand up first.

“But the truck drivers and the bike community, they’ve been fantastic.”

As well as financial support from the local business community, the Canberra Convoy for Cancer Families receives a huge boost from Radio 104.7FM, and in particular the Scotty and Nige breakfast show.

At the Gungahlin grounds, the Monsters of Rock, containing members from Rose Tattoo and the Screaming Jets, performed live with special guest Angry Anderson up front.

For more on the Canberra Convoy for Cancer Families, see the March 2015 edition of Owner//Driver. And check out our Facebook video at www.facebook.com/ownerdriver

Photography: Greg Bush

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