Finley raffle to fight MND

Mrs Tarrant, who works at the Murray St cafe in Finley, said the fundraiser will support the organisation FightMND and run for two months.

“I lost my husband to MND,” she said.

“I do hand-knitting to raise money, as well as cooking and sewing.

“It gives me something to do.

“I looked after him and took him to his medical visits. It was hard work, and it is such a cruel disease.”

Mrs Tarrant said she has seen the challenges of dealing with MND on people regionally.

“My husband was initially diagnosed as having arthritis, and I kept saying its not arthritis.

“We travelled everywhere but weren’t able to get into to see a specialist due to the waiting lists.

“When he went to hospital months later, he was straight away able to see a specialist.

“Living regionally makes it hard. We probably lost a couple of months in total.”

Mrs Tarrant said her husband was a fan of the Melbourne Demons in the AFL.

As such, the work carried out by Neale Daniher and FightMND is a big inspiration.

“For him, quality was better than quantity.

“He wouldn’t have wanted to live like Neale Daniher, even though he was a Melbourne fan.

“As a Melbourne supporter, he did get to see them win a premiership.

“We got through it and through FightMND they got us help when he was going through it.”

Various prizes are available as part of the raffle, including children’s toys and colouring-in books, which might be handy Christmas presents.

“It is amazing the fundraising they (FightMND) do, and it is a good cause to support.”

“Wendy at the Finley Post Office is selling tickets, as is Kirsty at Three Girls Homewares, and I’ve got a book of tickets at the cafe.

“There will be three prizes with a Tatts Lotto ticket with each.

“The raffle will run until the end of September and probably be drawn on, or around, October 1.”

All proceeds from Mrs Tarrant’s raffle are set to go to FightMND.

She said depending on the success of this fundraiser, more raffles may be held in the future.