Parkes was a popular place for charity cyclists last Thursday when two separate groups of cyclists made a stopover in our town. The first group of 21 athletes, the C3 Cyclists, were halfway through their five day mission to travel over 725km from Bourke to Belconnen in Canberra.
Parkes resident, Dot Bradley organized for the group to enjoy morning tea at the Pink Orchid Café. “My daughter belonged to the C3 Church in Sydney, and they asked me to assist with their stopover here” she said. It is the sixth year that the C3 Cyclists have undertaken a major fundraising ride to help purchase important pieces of hospital equipment through the Humpty Dumpty Foundation or to help find cures for childhood cancers through The Kid’s Cancer Project, with every cyclist setting a target of raising around $2,000. “We have already
hit our target of $40,000,” said Stephen Dunstall, one of the organisers. Pastor Arne Olander said; “The money this year will go to the hospitals at Peak Hill, Bourke and Queanbeyan and the extra money we have raised means we can also support a fourth hospital this year.”
Pastor Olander also said they had already raised more than $100,000 in total over seven years.The second group of
49 cyclists who enjoyed lunch at KFC in Parkes took part in the 577km Mill2Mill ride from Gunnedah to Manildra. They had already raised $106,000 for beyondblue, small schools the ride visits along the route, and the Manildra community. Two Parkes residents taking part in the ride, Tina Jones and Rodney Coleman, said it had been very good. “The support we received was fantastic, lots of people were stopping along the way to give cash donations” said Tina.