At long last, Daniher’s Drive has greeted the region.
The charity fundraiser, an initiative of FightMND, involved 300 people in 80 vehicles driving through the region on the morning of Friday, October 14 before returning to Melbourne the following Saturday.
Former Melbourne Demons captain David Neitz was among the cohort.
“It’s a good fun trip, but it’s got a lot of meaning behind it,” Mr Neitz said of his involvement.
He has been involved with FightMND since its inception, being close friends with the organisation’s co-founder Neale Daniher – a former coach and mentor from his days with the Demons.
“As well as all the fundraising that we do, Neale wanted to make sure that we have a bit of fun along the way,” Mr Neitz added.
“We’ve got 80 cars and 300 people that have raised over a million dollars already, before the trip even started, just by reaching out to their own communities.
“It’s great to go around to all the country towns, rattle the tins, build awareness, and raise some money along the way as well.”
Daniher’s Drive is typically undertaken annually, and features a convoy tour across regional Victoria to raise awareness of motor-neurone disease, or MND.
The journey through Gippsland, originally planned for 2020, was so chosen to support communities affected by the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20.
“You feel as though you’re, obviously, contributing to (FightMND), but also putting a bit of commerce back into the towns that were affected,” Mr Neitz said.
Organisers had hoped to drive along the Great Alpine Road via the towns of Myrtleford and Bright in Victoria’s north-east on Thursday and Friday.
However, with severe flooding occurring in that part of the state, the event was rerouted for obvious safety reasons.
“We’re pretty used to dealing with curveballs, given Covid over the last few years, so we had planned lots of different scenarios,” FightMND chief executive Fiona McIntosh said.
“We didn’t expect this one though, particularly since we were going to fire-affected areas in the north and the east.
“The one thing we didn’t plan for was floods – we did plan for inclement weather (and) bushfires, but not floods.”
Ms McIntosh said organisers were considering returning to flood-affected areas next year: “All options are open.”
As part of their tour through Gippsland, members and supporters of FightMND gathered for promotional events at the Star Hotel and Chemist Warehouse in Sale.
Chemist Warehouse Sale director and proprietor, Mario Tascone, was there to support the cause.
Mr Tascone said the charity drive was “an initiative close to our hearts”.
“This disease in general is a pretty debilitating one,” Mr Tascone said.
“And everyone knows Neale’s story; but there’s literally thousands of people that suffer from motor-neurone disease, both adults and children.
“With guys like us, hopefully we can give it a bit more attention and raise a lot more awareness.”
Chemist Warehouse has been further promoting FightMND by encouraging customers to donate to the charity as they pay for their items.
Also visiting Sale was FightMND campaigns director and Neale’s daughter, Bec Daniher.
Ms Daniher said that Gippslanders had been “incredibly generous” with their support.
“It’s really making an impact in our research, so we just need to keep going,” Ms Daniher said.
“I know Dad wasn’t able to come to all of the Drive this year, but his phrase is ‘Play On’.
“And that’s what we’ve done – we’re playing on for him.
“And we’re playing on for everyone out there who’s battling MND, lost someone close to them or (has) recently been diagnosed.”
In all, “close to $3 million” was raised as part of the 2022 drive, with the state government making a last-minute contribution of $1 million to the cause.
Ms Daniher said that every dollar raised for FightMND “brings us another step closer to finding treatments and a cure for MND”.
For more information about the charity and Daniher’s Drive, visit fightmnd.org.au
