Bunnings Albany team take part in Big Freeze event for FightMND, raising money to find a cure for the disease

Team members at Bunnings Albany braved the cold on Thursday afternoon, getting their noggins and red polos soggy to raise money for an important cause. Staff from the Chester Pass Road store had iced water tipped on their heads as a part of the FightMND Big Freeze, a campaign to raise money for motor neurone disease research that is now in its 10th year. Although Bunnings stores across Australia have participated in the Big Freeze for the last six years, this was the first time the Albany store has taken part. Bunnings Albany activities organiser Carol Roberts said her team was proud to join the fundraising effort with all 10 freely volunteering to get “iced”. “Plenty of our team are braving the chill and taking on an ice bucket challenge today in the name of an important cause and raising awareness for the beast that is Motor Neurone Disease,” she said. “We’ll be making it an annual tradition and look forward to getting even more of our team bucketed next year. “A big thank you to our customers who have helped us raise funds for FightMND this year, as we’ve sold out of beanies and have only a handful of buckets left.” As well as its iconic sausage sizzles, which nationwide raised $600,000, the hardware franchise sells limited edition buckets and cosy blue beanies with the campaign logo. More than 2000 Australians have Motor Neurone Disease, a degenerative condition that gradually takes away use of the arms and legs, the ability to eat and swallow, capacity for speech and ultimately the ability to breathe in an average time frame of just over two years. FightMND was established in 2014 by ex-AFL player and coach Neale Daniher after his own diagnosis with the incurable disease.