esCarpade has raised over $1.4 million so far!

Wow, what an amazing event the 2011 Camp Quality esCarpade has been.

On the last night in Bright it was revealed that the fundraising tally was at a whopping $1.4million dollars. Congratulations to all the esCarpadians on their phenomenal effort! That amount of money is equivalent to funding approximately 560 families through their cancer journey, sending 1600 children to camp or throwing 250 fun days. AMAZING! (Photo Left: Dinner at Bright)

The good news is that money is still coming in and donations are open until the 18th November. Donate Now.

Trev’s pick of the pics

Ace photographer Trevor Connell, of EventPix, did his first esCarpade in 2002 and has since volunteered his snapper services for no less than five esCarpades.

To round out our esCarpade blogging from the road, we asked Trev to give us his selection of personal favorites from the 20th annual Camp Quality esCarpade. To see his full selection, visit his photoblog at trevorpix.tumblr.com but in the meantime, here’s Trevor Connells’ top dozen:

Left: Ten 4 Silver Shadow

Left: A bit of Bavarian quality

Left: Beautiful trusty FR12 Team Pontiac

Left: Ben's daily driver briefing

Left: Fred is king of the kids

Left: Heath in a hurry on the red dirt

Left: Jimmy and Car 1089

Left: Kermit and his car with the kids

Left: Limo 64 at the start of esCarpade

Left: OKA to the rescue - Reg and Dianne

Left Our top fundraiser for 2011 - heroes one and all!

Left: Sand and more sand!

Thanks Mildura

It’s not all cars, trucks and four-wheel-drives on esCarpade – sometimes it’s aeroplanes too … and it’s lots and lots of motels, meal stops and meeting the locals.

As esCarpade headed out of Mildura after the lay day, all agreed it was a great place to stay. Top marks to Lisa and the gang at the Commodore Inn, which was base camp for the officials and several esCarpadians. Also to the catering team at the Setts (at the former Mildura Settlers Club) who coped magnificently with feeding us all despite some very late arrivals for dinner. The good treatment continued at Mildura Airport for a few people who were flying home early – the Virgin Blue team made it quick and easy to get bags and passengers all aboard for an on-time departure.

Above: Virgin Australia Crew at Mildura Airport

Why we do it!

Above: Abby (left) with Jimmy Mansfield and Sophie Claridge

Along the esCarpade route we meet with families who tell us about their Camp Quality journey, and it never fails to remind us of why we do what we do to raise money through esCarpade. One of the parents who addressed our dinner was Rose Claridge, who has sent her speech notes to use – because we couldn’t put it better than this extract from Rose’s speech:

“You know when you hear about a tragedy that has happened to another person, and you think – thank God I’m not that family. We turned into that family to be pitied on the 13th July, 2000. At the beginning of that day, we had 3 little girls under the age of 7, one of whom had a supposed virus and was in hospital. We ended that day with the knowledge that our little four-year-old daughter had leukaemia and was due to start 2½ years of chemotherapy.

“Nothing can prepare you for this journey. Our hearts were broken. I can remember staying up that first night watching Abby, so scared that she would die during the night. Cancer not only robs you of your health, it robs you of laughter and hope. It takes away your smile.

“I can still remember that first time that I met one of the Camp Quality people. They smiled and treated us like a normal mum and daughter. I clearly remember the smile. True smiles are a rarity in a children’s cancer ward. Abby was so excited when she would hear from a Camp Quality person, get a letter in the mail or a phone call. She knew from the badges and the T-shirts that the Camp Quality people wore, that there would be smiles.

“Abby started to really look forward to Camp Quality. From the other children she would hear about camps, weekends and lots of wonderful experiences that other kids were having. As a motivation to go, Abby decided to try to get as healthy as she could. She was 5 years old, bald and weighed 11 kg. It must have seemed a very tragic group that got on the bus to that camp that day – but what people didn’t see was the massive smiles on the children’s faces, the hope.

“Camp Quality invited us to many adventures – weekends away, junior and senior camps, ski camps and family camps. There was always lots of laughter, lots of fun things to do and lots of talking. But the biggest thing that CQ gave to my family was hope. They allowed us time to enjoy our family by doing normal things, like learning to fish, surf or ski. When Abby started school, she was still bald, and other children shunned her, through fear. Camp Quality supplied their amazing puppets – Dean and Kylie – to talk to the children and answer their questions.

“People often say we should fundraise for a cure. I believe that we do need to fundraise for a cure, but I also think that we need to fundraise so that children who are undergoing this massive life-threatening challenge learn to smile, learn to hope and learn to live.

“Thank you Camp Quality for teaching my children how to laugh again.”

True esCarpade spirit in Pinnaroo

In the tiny South Australian town of Pinnaroo this week, esCarpadians showed the true spirit of our wonderful event when the Puppeteers needed some extra support.

When the McDonalds Camp Quality Puppets were ready to visit the local school, only two of the cars assigned to the school visit had arrived in town from the morning’s drive. The Puppeteers called out to the other esCarpadians, who were still having their lunch, to ask if they could boost the number to visit the school.

Moments later, there were no less than 13 cars lined up behind them! The school kids and their teachers were thrilled – the esCarpadians almost outnumbered the kids at the tiny school – and it was a beautiful example of the generous spirit of the Camp Quality esCarpade.

Above: Mallee Tourist & Heritage Centre

Meanwhile, some esCarpadians popped across the road to the Mallee Tourist & Heritage Centre. Highlights include the letterpress printing museum, a collection of restored stationary engines, tractors, farm and household memorabilia, a fascinating display of over 1,000 cereal varieties, and a section devoted to the contribution made by women in the settlement of the Mallee.

Lyn Burgess, Media Star

Monday’s undisputed media star was esCarpader Lyn Burgess, who cheerfully took on several interviews to spread the word about what we are up to and why we’re doing it.

Lyn is now vying with Doc Mackay as most-quoted entrant this year. Whereas Doc is the one and only driver who was there at the start 20 years ago, Lyn has been winning over the media with her compelling story that goes back 18 years to when her son Mitch was diagnosed with cancer … and follows through all the way up to today when Mitch (winner of this year’s first Turkey) has his own car to run with Lyn’s in esCarpade each year.

No sooner did Lyn arrive in Naracoorte than she was doing a phone interview with the Swan Hill paper, and then she was straight into a live interview with the town’s own local paper. With such a compelling story, it’s no wonder.

Bonza Beaurepaires

Speaking of a South Aussie welcome, OV2, our advance car, completed its daily recce run with the spare wheel on the car and a rather flat one in the back – but not for long, thanks to the gang at Beaurepaires in Naracoorte.

Not only did the Beaurepaires boys take on the puncture repair job cheerfully just 20 minutes before closing for the day, but they even did it for free as their contribution to esCarpade.