Our Commitment to Community
THE MND CUP!
The MND Cup was first introduced in 2015 when Canning played Thornlie. This has been played every year since and has become an important fundraising day for the MND Drive. Over 60k has been raised from these matches and functions since it began. A special MND jumper was introduced to be worn on the annual MND cup game. It features a blue sash made up of blue cornflowers instead of the traditional yellow Tigers sash. The blue cornflower was adopted as the national symbol of hope for MND because of its fragile but hardy nature.
Four families involved with Canning tigers, have had someone directly affected by MND. Our fundraising efforts in the short term will provide funding to improve care and support for individuals living with MND and their families while also contributing to research aimed at finding a cure.
Drive for MND
The Poults Power team has put Car 61 on the road every year since, the 2022 Drive will be our 8th in a row. We have met so many amazing people on this annual adventure, who have become lifelong friends. We have lost a few along the way which breaks our hearts, but we will keep on fighting for Care Cure and Support for those living with MND.
The Poults Power Team!
This is our story:
Our story begins in 2013 when Dad was diagnosed with MND. It was a rush to sell up their home in Manjimup to relocate Mum and Dad to Perth permanently. Dad’s sole focus was to ensure he had Mum set up debt free in a home of her own close to family (we couldn’t get much closer than Jeff’s backyard). Along the way Dad asked me to share his journey with MND and for us to be his voice when he no longer had one. And that is what we did.
We posted frequent updates on the progress of the build and Dad’s health which steadily deteriorated. We looked for ways to get involved with MNDAWA and our first event in 2014 was the Walk to D-Feet MND as team Poults Power. We were the winning fundraisers that year and have participated every year since. Jeff upped the bar by taking part in the Get on Beard Campaign and grew the magnificent red beard he still wears today. This was a poignant gesture as Dad always had a beard, and Jeff looks so much like our Dad. He couldn’t bear to shave it off.
In 2014, we first heard of the Drive for MND. This type of event was right up Dad’s alley, and we talked about doing it with him. Alas, time was not on our side and Dad succumbed to the beast that is MND the week that the Drive was held that year to Esperance. We were spurred on after Dad died to do whatever we could to fundraise for MND in his memory.
In 2015 we did the walk again (and every year after), Jeff grew his beard a bit longer for Get on Beard again and trained for a charity boxing tournament, all for MND. This was the year our team Poults Power registered for the Daniher’s Drive for MND in 2015. My brothers Jeff and Brad and I took Dad’s beloved old Subaru on a final road trip around the Wheatbelt, with Dad’s ashes on the back seat and the time of our lives. We laughed and cried over those few days, knowing that Dad was well and truly with us in spirit. He would have loved the Drive for MND and would have given his great mate Greg Hambley a run for his money with his dance moves on the dance floor.
The Poults Power team has put Car 61 on the road every year since, the 2022 Drive will be our 8th in a row. We have met so many amazing people on this annual adventure, who have become life long friends. We have lost a few along the way which breaks our hearts, but we will keep on fighting to Care Cure and Support those living with MND.
Team Poults Power looks forward to the Drive every year. It has become a highlight for us, and a time that we reflect on Dad’s life and legacy. I just wish he could have come with us for at least one so everyone could have met him. With a few beers under his belt he would have been the life of the party. A bit like Jeff actually!! This event means so much to us, and to so many other participants which is why we all keep doing it again and again!
