NTI’s annual truck raffle has been gaining momentum with every passing year. Now, with fan-favourite truck Bonnie officially in the hands of the latest winner, plans are already in place to make next year’s raffle bigger and better than ever.
The insurance provider has been raffling off restored and retrofitted trucks for the past seven years, which has raised a staggering $2.5 million for MND research over the journey. This year it was Bonnie – a 1946 Ford Jailbar kitted out with all the modern comforts – that was up for grabs.
Bonnie has been a fan favourite at truck shows around the country since she debuted with NTI. However, NTI Chief Customer Officer Janelle Greene says this year was the right time to see the much-loved vehicle head to a new home.
“We loved Bonnie at NTI, and we created it in a little way to one day raffle off,” Greene told ATN.
“We also created it to engage our people. We’ve taken it to a lot of events, where it’s got a lot of attention, and we decided to raffle her off this year because it was starting to get a little bit embarrassing.
“We had so many people coming up to us asking when Bonnie was going to be raffled, because this was the truck they wanted to win, so we just felt we couldn’t hold onto it anymore.”
“The winner was a Brisbane lady named Beverly Smith. She bought her ticket at Cooley Rocks On, and she only bought one ticket.
“Cooley Rocks On is a music, motor and lifestyle festival, and the reason she bought a ticket is because her mum died of MND, so she had a very, very personal reason and has always supported MND fundraising causes whenever they’ve crossed her path.
“It was one of the first days she was out and about herself after having her own medical issues, and she won it with one ticket.”
Awareness about the beast that is MND has been gaining incredible traction in the Australian landscape, notably in no small part to the AFL’s annual Big Freeze in support of former Essendon footballer and Melbourne coach Neale Daniher, who has been battling the illness for over a decade.
NTI’s decision to devote so much time and so many resources to MND research was no coincidence, with the disease also hitting the company hard in recent times. It claimed the life of former CEO Wayne Patterson in 2018 following his three-year battle.
“Every company should do something for the betterment of our world. We try to do lots of things at NTI, but we wanted to do something more philanthropic,” Greene continues.
“Our former CEO, Wayne, is known as the father of the modern NTI, and he was really passionate about customers and partners doing the right thing, and he was very passionate about the people that work at NTI.
“Living up to lead standards in the community and being a leader in the industry, that’s what Wayne was known for.
“NTI has lived and breathed the values that he helped create in our organisation many years ago, and this is how we honour him.
“It sort of surprised us how successful it’s been, how people have got behind it, and how our repairers and manufacturing partners have wanted to be a part of it.
“But we are in the transport and logistics industry and our customers are in that industry, so maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised that it was something our community would get behind.”
Exactly where the $483,000 raised from the raffling of Bonnie will go is yet to be released, but NTI’s care factor about fighting against MND does not end with this year’s raffle.
Every year the money raised is awarded to researchers in the form of a grant, and previous recipients of the funding are engaged to discuss just how those funds are being used in the search for a cure to those involved with the company.
“What our people are most inspired by is we actually get the researchers who are awarded the grants to come in and present and talk through what they’re doing with the money,” Greene says.
“Whether it’s making it easier to live with the disease, it’s slowing down the disease, or it’s curing the disease.
“One of those recipients is Dr Rebecca San Gil from the University of Queensland. She received the grant in 2023 and her research is looking at repairing damaged proteins to slow down MND.
“The one before that was Dr John Lee and his research was about targeting the inflammation in MND to make it easier to live with.
“It’s really amazing how many people have got behind it and how many people buy tickets at the events we show up to.”
Now, then, with NTI’s key promotional vehicle now out of its hands and into the ownership of Smith, what’s on the cards for next year’s raffle?
How will one of the industry’s biggest philanthropic undertakings continue to go to new heights?
Greene is unwilling to reveal much at this stage, but says you should keep your eyes peeled for what’s on the cards for 2025.
“We have another restoration coming, but it’s classified. We’ll wait and see for the unveiling,” she says.
“We’re going to keep doing this because it’s working, and people are excited by it. We’ve raised almost $2.5 million in seven years for MND research. We’re pretty proud of that and it doesn’t look like running out of steam yet.
“It’s getting a following, and MND is getting more awareness for how awful it is.
“It’s a truck show year next year which always has a lot of activity. We just want to make this bigger and better so we can help raise as much money as fast as possible to cure the disease.”
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