Car Community Collects Big Bucks for Bushfire Relief

Bushfire Relief Meet. Photos: Hunter Media

A group of local car enthusiasts have ‘rallied the troops,’ attracting more than a thousand entries for a car meet fundraiser that raised some mega bucks in record time.

Inspired by members of The Carlective, five businesses that work within and promote the automotive industry, the event went from idea to execution in just four days, raising more than $42,000 for bushfire affected communities.

Photo: Hunter Media

One of The Carlective members Jimmy, says they felt compelled to find a way to help.

“We were at Summernats and each day we’d come back and turn on the TV and see all the fires,” he said.

“On the Saturday night the boys sat down and we had a bit of a chat and thought what can we do?”

Photo: Hunter Media

Fellow Carlective member Trev said they put their network into action.

“The only thing we’re good with is cars, but we’ve got plenty of contacts in the community that are into cars, so we thought we’d hold a meet.

“We announced it on Tuesday night and come Saturday night we had a thousand plus cars and around two a half thousand people and made 42 odd thousand dollars. It really blew us away. We didn’t expect anything like that at all.”

Photo: Hunter Media

Some car enthusiasts travelled hundreds of kilometres to attend the event in the Wodonga Plaza car park at short notice.

“I actually had people message my business page and they came from Portland, six hours away,” Jimmy said.

“We had people from Melbourne, a big group from Benalla, Wagga, Wangaratta, Shepparton – you name it.

Photo: Hunter Media

“We’re heavily into the car scene here and there were cars we hadn’t seen before that are local cars, just epic cars that came out. Every second car in the carpark was of a high standard or back to your weekend cruisers.”

While the group of friends initiated the idea, it proved to be a team effort with Hunter Media, Car Culture Meets and CC Forged joining other volunteers and businesses rallying together to make the fundraiser a success.

Photo: Hunter Media

“It’s not just because of us we had that many cars,” Trev said.

“Everyone wants to rally behind those hit by the bushfires, that is what bought a lot of people out of the woodwork and made them want to travel to support it.

“It was $5 car entry and we had people coming up to us paying $50. Other businesses and volunteers helped run the day and heaps of businesses donated items for raffles.

Photo: Hunter Media

“We made three-and-a-half thousand dollars just from the sausage sizzle, again donated by local businesses. It just shows how big the car community is here and how everyone can come together at the right time.”

If $43,000 can be raised at an event planned in just five days, there’s no telling what this group of friends can organise in the future. They’ve hinted to ‘watch this space.’

For more on The Carlective, visit their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheCarlective/

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