Shitbox Rally Just Weeks Away

A little over a month remains before Zaydin Barnes and his mate Terry Rebetzke head off on this year’s Autumn Shitbox Rally.

“I am definitely excited for the rally,” Mr Barnes said.

“The closer it gets the more exciting it’s all becoming.”

Zaydin said that fundraising had been full on, with donations of money and items, raffles and barbecues at Woolworths far exceeding his expectations.

“Originally, we thought the minimum $5,000 limit would be a tough one to reach, but we passed that mark a long time ago,” Zaydin said.

“Now we are just shy of $9,000 and hoping to get that over $10,000 by the time we leave in five weeks.

“We’re expecting to see a lot of remote outback NSW and Queensland, a lot of dirt, gravel roads.

“We really don’t have any idea what some of the tracks may be like or what we are in for, but that’s half the fun.”

Zaydin said it was important for people to get behind fundraising events like the Shitbox Rally.

“Ninety per cent of us will know or have someone close to us that has suffered from some form of cancer and, as we know, research for this kind of thing is extremely expensive and without these fundraisers and donations, we wouldn’t be anywhere near as advanced in cancer treatments as we are today,” Zaydin said.

“So far, the Autumn Rally alone has raised almost $1,500,000 and the organisers of the Box Rallies, since beginning in 2010, have raised over $27,000,000 for the Cancer Council.”

Mr Barnes has lost three close family members to cancer; his grandmother and brother just last year.

The rally was something he and his brother were planning to do together, but that wasn’t to be. In his brother’s place, mutual friend Terry Rebetzke will accompany Zaydin on the six-day rally.

“Three days before he passed, I got the email to say I had been accepted,” Zaydin said.

• Topics:

• Fundraiser
• Motoring