The trip of a lifetime

A group of four Endeavour clients was among 300 rambunctious car rally participants who besieged Toowoomba with bells and whistles on Tuesday 10 July and bombarded Kooralbyn Resort 10 days later with noise, pomp and ceremony, as part of the 20th annual Great Endeavour Rally, which raises money for the Endeavour Foundation and the 3,000 people with a disability the organisation supports.

Richard Morris, Michael Regan and Scott McNalty from Toowoomba, and Stephen McStay from Stanthorpe, were joined by Endeavour support workers Reg Tucker from Kingaroy, and Debbie Turner, also from Toowoomba, for 10 unforgettable days and 5,000 eye-opening kilometres, raising dust and dollars for people with a disability through outback Queensland.

“The guys absolutely loved it!’ said Endeavour Rally Coordinator Col Clifford.

“They ended up winning the annual ‘Car with Characters’ Award, because they were a bunch of amazing characters.  They put a smile on everyone’s face.”

“Each year, we get a group of Endeavour clients to come along on the Rally, because a) it is a terrific once in a lifetime experience for them, and b) their presence allows other Rally entrants the opportunity to meet and understand people with a disability.  We find the other Rally participants draw great inspiration from meeting the Endeavour clients, and go away determined to redouble their fundraising efforts for the following year.”

The first entrants to make it passed the finish line in Kooralbyn were Shane Charles (Endeavour Board Member) and Colin Desbrow from Toowoomba, in car number 81, ‘Red Bull’. While the team were not the Rally winners as such, they were the highest fundraisers of the event, raising $40,334.  Total funds raised for this year’s event are expected to exceed $260,000.