By Ethan Benedicto
The Beaconsfield Junior Football Club will be hosting the Big Freeze 10 DIY for the third consecutive year, on Thursday 6 June at Holm Park Reserve.
Called the Beaconsfield Big Freeze to Fight MND, the event, which will be running from 5.30pm to 8pm, will see a night of fundraising and fostering community action to support those impacted.
Kym-Marie Ingram, president of the Beaconsfield juniors, said that “it’s so important we pass the messages on to the juniors, the younger generation”.
“So that they’re aware of how we can support somebody who is, you know, going through this; and now necessarily just that [person], but their family to show that we care,” she said.
The event will be attended by a number of local coaches, volunteers, community leaders and players will be participating by taking the plunge down an icy slide.
Special guests will also be in attendance, with Charlie Curnow, Changkouth Jiath (CJ) and Bianca Chatfield holding a Q&A session with some autographs.
For Ms Ingram, it’s all about making everyone understand that “if we all come together and support each other, it goes a long way”.
“Even if it’s a dollar – and that’s what we say to all the kids and families [that] if you can put a dollar in, that’s going to help,” she said.
Marking 2024 as its tenth consecutive year, Big Freeze’s fight against motor neurone disease by advocating for greater awareness of the disease and funding world-class research and drug trials is ongoing and is fuelled by community action.
Inclusion is big for Ms Ingram when it comes to fighting ‘The Beast’, saying that “we’re all about the community”.
“If we can do something to help someone – like we know that there are families at our club for instance that can’t afford a pair of socks, we’ll give them a pair so that they’re missing out.
“It needs to be all in, the worst thing we could do is exclude somebody,” she said.
In support of the cause, the MND beanies and socks will be sold during the night.
The event is also in partnership with the Beaconsfield Netball Club, Superlues and Football Club, and is sponsored by Toyota Berwick, Pakenham and Cranbourne, who in turn will be handing out giveaways throughout the night; in addition to food trucks, face paintings and raffles.
According to FightMND, there are over 2000 Australians living with the disease, with an average life expectancy of just 27 months after diagnosis.
The last update of the not-for-profit’s research projects saw a $20.2 million investment towards research and care initiatives in 2023, which includes the support of 23 projects, with one clinical trial, seven drug development projects and four discovery projects being some of them.
