It was motorcade madness on Thursday, October 24, as the Camp Quality EsCarpade made a stop at Echuca Primary School.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Camp Quality, a charity who helps children facing cancer, has run the EsCarpade for the last 32 years as one of its major fundraisers.
The ‘EsCarpade’ is made up of 50 themed cars and more than 100 participants who travel a distance of 1600km over seven days in order to raise money for the charity.
Echuca Primary School was chosen as one of 12 stops along the journey thanks to the work of teacher Hannah Egglestone, who is the teacher to Hannah Steane, a students currently battling cancer.
Ms Egglestone said it was important to make sure it was a positive experience for Hannah and other students.
“I think it’s important for [Hannah] to have something that can give awareness to the kids and to make it happy and positive in an exciting way,” she said.
“It’s been amazing, I didn’t expect it to be so big and the kids have been having a great time.”
All the students were gathered on the school oval in an array of costumes to take a look at the cars.
The drivers were also dressed up to match their cars themes with characters such as the Mario Bros, Smurfs, Incredibles, Simpsons and many more making an appearance.
The event is now in its 32nd year, with the 2024 event alone raising $700,000 already.
One of the vehicle drivers, Sara Morgan, said that being a part of the EsCarpade was a way to give back to those affected by cancer, especially children.
“We just wanted to give back to our community. We’re from Hawkesbury and we’ve had a number of families affected by cancer,” she said.
“This is such a good charity, it's about giving [children] memories that are not in a hospital bed.
“As a mum, that makes me really happy that we can raise money to do that.”
After the drivers bid farewell, the children enjoyed a puppet show aimed at educating kids using age-appropriate, interactive performances that bust cancer myths and help to reduce bullying.
This year’s EsCarpade procession departed from the Old Parliament house in Canberra on Sunday, October 20, and has stopped at six towns so far, including Echuca.
From Echuca, the EsCarpade will continue to stop in Castlemaine, Ballarat, Warrnambool, and Mortlake before finishing up in Geelong.