Community & Business
28 May, 2022
Eddie off again for RFDS Rally
LOCAL Dimbulah man Eddie Toffanello is embarking on his fifth trip down south to compete in the annual Outback Car Trek raising money for the RFDS while racing through outback communities.
The week-long trek will start at Parkes in NSW and finish at Harvey Bay in Queensland, travelling regional back roads and stopping off at rural communities which have been serviced by the RFDS over the years. Eddie is participating in this year’s trek with a friend in a 1973 LTD sedan with the racing number 345.
Registrations and fees associated with the trek are donated directly into the RFDS and over the 31-year lifespan of the event, it has raised over $30 million with around 120 cars participating each year.
“We go into outback regional towns and talk about how important the RFDS is,” Eddie said. “The RFDS is the best thing ever since it was introduced, it saves lives everywhere.”
Eddie is currently a member of both the Dimbulah Lions Club and the Mareeba Old Players and Supports, both of which have donated $2000 each towards Eddie’s $7500 registration fee. Adding up all the vehicle and personal registrations, Eddie and his partner will be paying around $10,000, all of which goes directly to the RFDS.
“In my experiences in the four years when I go to these locations and I hear of the stories where the RFDS have been involved and saved lives,” Eddie said. “We have got to keep it afloat because it is not all funded by the government – a lot of it has got to be funded by community fundraising. “I feel privileged being involved and making an effort to raise that money.”
President of the Dimbulah Lions Club and paramedic by trade, Brendon Goldsworthy, said the RFDS was a worthy cause to support.
“I am in the health profession and see the work that the RFDS do every day – they are an essential part of living rurally,” he said.
Eddie will travel down to Parkes for the trek from 4-11 June.
