By Jessica Micallef
Ron and Tim Diprose will be driving towards a good cause.
The Sunbury father and son team will this year be participating in Australia’s 10th Shitbox Rally to raise funds for the Cancer Council.
Ron said the decision to participate in the rally was to support his wife’s sister who has battled three cancers.
“Debbie’s sister had kidney cancer, she had that removed in Hobart, then she had some complications so she had to be flown to Melbourne … and then a year later she got the same cancer in the liver, which has been treated,” he said.
“And then pretty much a year later she found out she had breast cancer, she had a mastectomy maybe four months ago and she’s doing really well … [She] has a fabulous attitude.
“That was one of the main drivers to why we’re doing this.”
Ron and Tim will be driving from Melbourne to Townsville in October in a 1995 Ford Mondeo wagon they bought for $350 off Gumtree.
“We’re going to dress the car up like the family truckster in the first Griswold’s movie, that’s why it’s got the luggage on the top … it’ll be painted green,” Ron said.
“There’s a bit of a family laugh about trucksters because my brother-in-law had a car they called the truckster years ago which was a Ford Falcon.”
Tim said: “As a kid, dad always made us watch National Lampoons every year … so it’s fitting to be the truckster, we’ll see if we can get it airborne like the movie.”
Participants need to raise a minimum of $5000 to take part in the drive, but Ron and Tim have decided to set the bar higher.
“We put a figure of $11,377 because that number popped in my head,” Ron said.
“I’ve got no idea why, but I thought, ‘Let’s shoot high’, so we’ll be doing as much fundraising as we can do.
“We’re just under $1000 at the moment, so we’re getting there.”
Tim and Ron said they were excited to be supporting a cause that affects many people.
“I think it’ll be good, especially bonding with dad and doing it together, we’ve never done anything like this before,” Tim said.
Ron said: “All the money we raise goes straight to the Cancer Council and all that money is used for research … they’re actually using the money for what I think is a really worthwhile thing.”
To donate: 2019spring.shitboxrally.com.au/team-truckster
