Braving the icy big freeze

As part of Fight MND’s big freeze annual event, thousands of workplaces, sports clubs and individuals raised money to support the long road to finding a cure for MND.

One such individual is resident Rhonda Pagram, who spearheaded this year’s ice dunk event, which raised roughly $6300 for MND research.

The money was raised through the barbecue at the dunk, donation tins, selling ‘Big Freeze’ beanies at Echuca Coles and Ms Pagram’s personal fundraising.

Ms Pagram was thrilled with how the event went, particularly with the support shown by the community.

“The event was amazing; it went really well, we had a lot of people here, and everyone got dunked; it was a lot of fun,” she said.

“We ended up raising a lot of money. On the day, we got $400 for the barbecue and $1500 from the donation tins.

“I haven’t done a full total from all our fundraising, but it’s sitting around the $6300 mark for the whole thing, which is really good.

“It was fantastic seeing everyone at the dunk. I had a microphone chatting and looked at everyone wearing their blue beanies with pride.”

Ms Pagram also highlighted hers and the Echuca Coles team’s success with fundraising, placing high for total fundraising for Fight MND.

She was also happy with the Echuca Coles’ employees’ willingness to get involved, particularly the regional manager.

Two visiting managers and Echuca’s manager all got dunked.

“For Fight MND, we placed fourth in total fundraising nationally for a workplace event, which was a huge achievement,” she said.

“We only have eight beanies left, and the fundraising doesn’t end until June 21, so we have really hit the target.

“All of our lovely volunteers who got dunked had a great time; we all dressed up for it.

“The water was cold when it hit you, and then we were all saturated, so it was a really great thing for all of Coles Echuca to get behind.”

Ms Pagram wanted to thank the Echuca-Moama community for supporting the cause through fundraisers like these.

“We had beautiful sunny weather, and lots of people turned out; we had around 70 people there at a time,” she said.

“It just means that the community gets together and supports the events, and I think that’s great for a small country town.”