More than 50 car loads of local residents are expected to take part in the second annual Brooke’s Car Rally, a unique fundraiser thought up by a local nine-year-old.
At just seven, Brooke Jones, with the help of her family, came up with the concept of a large-scale scavenger hunt, played out across the local area.
This year on Sunday, November 9, families and groups will meet in their vehicles at the Penrith Panthers Car Park from 9am, where they will be handed a set of directions and clues that should lead them to a secret finish location somewhere in the local area.
The event sounds like it is all fun and games but it is also for a good cause; to raise money for the Nepean Cancer Care Centre.
Being nine-years-old you would think that Brooke is too young to want to help other people but she decided on her own that she wanted to raise some funds, and her motivations are quite simple.
“There are heaps of people that have cancer and I just want to help them,” she told the Weekender.
This year’s event is looking to be much bigger than the last, which means that the $7,209 the rally raised last year could be superseded by a much larger figure.
“At this point last year, six weeks out from the actual event, we had five cars registered and ended up with 38 in total. This year we already have 25 registered and I would say we’ll get another 30,” said mum, Amanda, who is a cancer survivor and a former patient of the centre herself.
The majority of last year’s participants have pledged to take part again this year.
“They loved the fact that it was something that the whole family could do and they said it was fun – trying to decipher clues – and the main thing was the fact that they were helping a local centre that everybody around here knows someone who has been treated at that centre, if not personally,” Mrs Jones said.
Funds raised at last year’s event purchased an Electrocardiogram machine (ECG), which is used to detect abnormalities in the heart rhythm of patients undergoing treatment.
From donations made from registrations, which are just $15 per car, and a raffle on the day, where the main prize is a Queensland holiday, it is hoped that the $10,000 fundraising goal is met.
For those who would like to take part in the rally, make a donation or purchase a raffle ticket, contact 0430 049 189 or visit www.brookescarrally.com.
