By Victoria Stone-Meadows
A COUPLE of truck drivers and their mates have done the extraordinary, organising a massive family day to help out their close friend who has fallen ill with cancer for the third time.
Stuart Smith and Travis Smith grew up with Tooradin couple Matt and Mel and when they found out a few months ago that Mel had been struck down with cancer for the third time, the guys knew they had to do something.
It was then that the “Better Life for Mel” event was born and the guys started organising a family fun day as well as truck, car and bike show and shine to raise a bit of money to help their mate’s family.
“A very good friend of ours has got cancer for the third time, and we just found out two months ago,” Stuart said.
“Me along with Travis and a couple of other boys decided to run a bit of a fund-raiser to help with medical bills and other things.”
Since deciding to put the fund-raiser together, the mates have found their skills at event organisation were much better than they first thought.
“We had a meeting with Luke and Debbie from the Turf Club, and they gave us a venue and we thought we would run a little truck car and bike show and shine,” Stuart said.
“We are having a silent action in the big shed, and so far around $20,000 worth of gear has been donated for auction and raffles.”
The event has grown into a full day of family fun with live music, door prize, a celebrity appearance, kid’s activities, market stalls, catering and heaps more.
“The majority has been from local business,” Stuart said.
“We’ll be running a few raffles during the day, and it’s still in planning but we’ve got prizes like fishing trips and a holiday of five nights at Broadbeach in Queensland.
“Shane Crawford will be here drawing the door prize which is a $3000 packing from Focus on Furniture as well as signing few footies on the day.
“There will also be Mel’s choice trophies awarded to the best presented truck car and bike.”
While the guys are very excited about the event and organising such a big day, they say there was no hesitation from anyone involved to help provide a Better life for Mel.
“It’s amazing how many people want to help, you get on a roll and ringing people and they just say ‘yes’. I don’t think I have had a knock back from anyone,” Travis said.
“We are just a couple of truck drivers and this is something we feel we have to do for a friend and her family.”
The Better Life for Mel Fund-raiser will be held at the Cranbourne Racecourse on Sunday 27 November from 10am to 4pm and Stuart and Travis encourage everyone to come down.
“We want to thank all the sponsors and everyone who has jumped on board so far and we want a great family day for everyone,” Stuart said.
“Come down and support Mel and get her through this battle because all this support is making her stronger and that’s what we want.”
