Postie Bike Challenge

Fundraising

There is a special feeling of generosity and community support associated with the Postie Bike Challenge. Your entry fees are injected directly into local community groups along the route and through the donation of the motorcycles for auction and fundraising purposes.

Local Community Groups

Where possible, we source local community groups at each of our overnight stops to provide our catering. Over the years these groups have included, Lions club, Rotary, school parents and citizens groups, local sporting clubs, Country Women's Association, Cancer council, Aboriginal community groups, and showground society groups. The Postie Bike Challenge provides one of the most significant fundraising opportunities for these community groups in return for their provision of dinner, breakfast, drinks and packed lunches.

Donation

The Postie Bike Challenge has selected Rotary as a benefactor for the donation of bikes at the end of the event. Rotary were selected because of their established high profile community programs and their ability to process the bikes and forward either funds made from the bikes or the bikes themselves to where they will do the most good. ALL RIDER MOTORCYCLES WILL BE DONATED to the chosen benefactor on completion of the event. THIS DONATION WILL BE DONE IN YOUR OWN NAME and we will facilitate a formal certificate of thanks to verify the donation. The spirit of the event calls for support for those less well off than us.

2010 Event Outcome

Further funds have been raised from the sale of the motorcycles and are currently being distributed to worthy groups. These details will be updated as soon as they become available. To date there have been some early donations as per the email from Rotary which follows:

“Bikes have been donated to six local organisations, plus a bike to the Rotary Club of Katherine. The organisations were delighted to receive their bikes:

01. Nina's Ark Wildlife Sanctuary, Litchfield – Nina Keener - www.ninasarksanctuary.com (Recommended by Patriots MCC)

06.  Salvation Army Flying Padre – David Shrimpton www.salvation-army.org.au/ministries-in-the-salvation-army/flying-padre.html
10.  Friends of North Australia Railway Adelaide River, Trevor Horman - www.atr.org.au/fnaraar.htm
19.  Rotary Club of Katherine – auction bike to raise funds for equipment for Katherine Emergency Services
16.  Riding for the Disabled, Marlow Lagoon – Lesley Monro - http://www.rda.org.au/rdant.aspx
22.  Artback NT – Angela O’Donnell - www.artbacknt.com.au
38.  Multicultural Youth NT (MyNT) – Zac Rudge

So far we have earmarked the following organisations / causes / purposes as recipients of proceeds from the bike sales, but no funds have been distributed as yet. We have achieved a very broad spread across the community.

Total Recreation NT - Sport and recreation activities for 9-16 year olds with a disability
Rotary Club of Dili – small projects in East Timor
Rangi and his mum Robyn (Rangi is a 15 year-old student undergoing brain tumour treatment)
East Timor Rotary Youth Exchange Program – Sponsorship program to assist ET Youth
Rotary Club of Katherine (sale of Bernie’s bike 14) – equipment for Katherine Emergency Services
The Wishlist Foundation – startup assistance for a social enterprise linking needs and benefactors
Arthritis and Osteoporosis NT – Additional office equipment to support access to AONT musculoskeletal health services
Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA) – workshop in Darwin for adults surviving child abuse
Down Syndrome Association - Computer Aided Learning program for kids with Down Syndrome
Rotary Polio Plus Program - Vaccine to immunise 1200 children against Polio
The Essington School Darwin – instruments for music program

And more, tba

We are also providing the Rotary Club of Dili in East Timor with some funds to assist with some small projects in East Timor, plus the contingent of 2006 Postie Bikes that we are currently making arrangements with Conoco Phillips to ship to ET. The RC of Dili is concurrently liaising with Health Alliance International and other health organisations in ET for the transfer of the bikes to then be used by midwives and other medical staff employed by those organisations.

We linked our sale prices to a bit below the Red Book trade-in prices.

We sold the 2004 bikes for $750.
We sold the 2005 bikes for $800.
The 2006 (we sold 2, with the funds to go to RC of Dili) and 2007 bikes were $1000.

We are very proud and privileged to have been given this opportunity to participate in helping share the generosity of the 2010 Postie Bike Challenge, so a huge thanks to you both and the rest of your team.”

With kind regards,
Jo
Joanne Schilling, PDG
Rotary Club of Darwin South Postie Bike Coordinator
D9550 Rotary Foundation Chair 2010-13