Fundraising rally a personal quest for much-admired Bendigonian

MARK Coffey, well known local building company owner and the proprietor of Wine Bank on View for more than two decades is on a mission.

That mission is to raise $20,000 through his participation in the Alice Springs to Gold Coast 2025 Spring Shitbox Rally with nephew and close mate Chris Jones, all of which will go to Cancer Council Australia to fund research, support services and programs across all cancer types and stages.

Over the past 15 years, the car rally has raised over $40 million and is now Australia’s largest independently run fundraiser for the council.

As part of their participation, rally drivers must travel in a car purchased for under $1500 – in the Bendigo duo’s case that being a 1998 Mercedes Benz E320A bought from a collector “in the middle of nowhere,” somewhere this side of Geelong.

The cause is a personal one for Mr Coffey, who’s been engaged with his own cancer journey for around 12 years, but describes himself as “really fit, healthy and strong as we speak today.”

He said he was drawn to the rally concept because 100 per cent of donations go towards research into cancer as a whole.

“It doesn’t matter which cancer, breast cancer, testicular cancer, whatever cancer it might be, this is raising money for all of them,” he said.

“Some people may be more interested in research into a particular form because their mum, their dad, their brother or themselves may have had it.

“I’m not, even though I’ve had a couple of different types.

“The whole thing is (it’s) a hideous disease and the more we can spend on research, the better. That’s where my passion is.”

In terms of the $20,000 goal, Mr Coffey said he also has several functions and events planned and he’d love the community’s support.

“We’ve still got time up our sleeves, but we don’t want to leave it to the last minute, so there’ll be stuff starting to pop up soon,” he said.

“We’re (also) encouraging people who own a local pub, real estate agency or other type of business to donate $100 and they can put their sticker on the car.

“I want to promote Bendigo, so I’d like to have a lot of Bendigo stuff stuck all over it.”

Now that the aged E320A has been purchased and repaired and with the event under 12 weeks away, Mark said he’s looking forward to the several thousand kilometre trek.

“It should be a great time, a week travelling through the bush,” he said.

“Chris and I have done a lot of these sorts of trips before in appropriate vehicles, and now we plan to do it in an inappropriate one.”

The rally runs between 24 October and 1 November, venturing from Alice Springs to the Gold Coast.

To make a donation to the AMG or OMG team, visit the Shitbox Rally website.