Coming first place brings with it a great deal of satisfaction, but for Koala Jones, being the highest fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Great Escape creates a whole new level of gratification.
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Mr Jones has been participating in the ‘Great Escape’ rally for eight years now, and finally achieved his goal of being the top fundraiser.
Even with this achievement under his belt, he can’t see himself stopping – only achieving better results in the following years to come.
“I fell into this, and I enjoy doing it, and can’t see myself stopping anytime soon – I’ll do it for as long as I can,” Mr Jones said.
Mr Jones’ fundraising efforts alone saw over $19000 donated to Cystic Fibrosis Australia.
Ray Greig, Mr Jones’ navigator also built and auctioned off a guitar, which went for a massive $5000, making the combined amount of money raised for their team around $24000.
Theirs was one of three cars from Griffith, with one including Robert Brown, Matt Lodding and Josh Gray, and another with Troy and Nathan Campbell.
The rally saw the teams head off on a 11 day adventure starting at Ararat and finishing at Mt Gambier, touring through Coober Pedy.
Robert Brown was encouraged to enter the rally for the first time this year after meeting Koala, and managed to take fourth place in the drive.
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“To be honest this year it was all a guessing game, you have to work out your times and average speed and go from there,” Mr brown said.
“I’m very proud, I was a but surprised to come fourth, we didn’t think it’d happen at all.”
While their experience wasn’t as smooth sailing, Troy and Nathan Campbell certainly had their adventure in the outback.
“We rolled our car on the first day!” Troy said.
“We went over a dirt road and blew a tire, which ended up rolling over. Didn’t stop us though, we just went home and got another car and caught up with the rest.”
For the Campbells, the involvement with the rally has taken a personal turn, with one of their relatives born with cystic fibrosis two years ago.
“I’ve been doing it for 11 years so far, however now I guess this makes it mean so much more to be involved,” Troy said.
Troy and Nathan came seventh for their fundraising, and are determined to beat their $10,100 next year.
