Merida Flight Centre team goes pink
Mountain bike team raises funds for fight against breast cancer
Australia's Merida Flight Centre mountain bike team has "gone pink" to raise funds for breast cancer charity the McGrath Foundation.
Merida Flight Centre riders Jodie Willett of Brisbane, South Australian Terri Rhodes, the Gold Coast's Maya Sidhu and Victorians James Peacock and Adrian Jackson will don an all-pink cycling outfit for the Merida 24 hour race at Grandchester, west of Brisbane, in July and at other events during the 2010 season.
Merida Flight Centre team manager Sean Chung said joining forces with the McGrath Foundation was an ideal partnership for the team.
"Our team has a strong female rider representation, not to mention all the girlfriends, sisters and mums who are out at the events every weekend supporting our riders," he said.
"A lot of the events take place in rural areas. Breast cancer affects one in nine women in Australia. Taking this into consideration it's a great cause for our team to get behind.
"Given the cycling events we are participating in during the 2010 season and the number of riders and spectators at these events, I think there is a great opportunity to raise a significant amount of money."
The McGrath Foundation was co-founded by former Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath and his wife, Jane, who died from the disease in 2008, to help fund research and increase the number of breast cancer nurses in rural and regional Australia.
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The foundation aims to raise money to place McGrath Breast Care Nurses in rural and regional Australia, while at the same time increasing breast awareness among young Australian women.
The McGrath Foundation currently has more than 50 nurses are located in areas from Hervey Bay in Queensland to Geraldton in Western Australia.
Chung said the team was hoping to raise AUS$10,000 for the McGrath Foundation by the end of the year.
"We have several fundraising activities planned for the team at the events we are attending throughout the year for the McGrath Foundation," he said.
"A major event will be at the Merida 24 hour in Grandchester which will feature a large scale drive to collect for the cause."