By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
EVER wanted to push a lawn mower across Australia but never had the chance?
The team at Jim’s Mowing are doing just that this month as they push a mower from Tasmania to Queensland to raise money for Movember, in support of men’s health.
Regional franchisor for the Casey Region Anthony Silverman, based in Berwick, said this was the third year of involvement in Movember for Jim’s Mowing.
“For the Jim’s Mowing national conference we were all on a cruise in the Pacific Islands and during it we started chatting about what we were going to do this year for Movember,” Mr Silverman said.
“We thought about where we could push a lawnmower from and we decided to make it Hobart to Brisbane.
“We left on 27 October, put the mower on a boat and landed at Station Pier on 1 November.”
Mr Silverman joined the team for nine days during the first legs of the journey and will now cheer his colleagues on from Berwick as they complete the rest of the 2740 kilometre journey, finishing in Brisbane on 28 November.
Mr Silverman said one of his highlights of the trip was staying at the Pakenham Hotel where the patrons donated to the cause without even hesitating.
“We’ve actually been ahead of time, we’ve been finishing per day between 5pm and 6pm,” Mr Silverman said, speaking while he was in the convoy and just a few kilometres shy of the New South Wales border.
“There’s different people from Jim’s Mowing helping for different sections,” he said.
“The big thing is to raise awareness and to get men to think about having tests.”
Each of the 150 franchisees involved from Jim’s Mowing is hoping to reach this year’s target of $65,000 in fundraising, considerably more than last year’s $40,493 total.
Covering 65-70 kilometres per day, Mr Silverman is hopeful the mowing convoy can meet or even go past this expectation for such a worthy cause.
But first the team just have to make sure they get to Brisbane safely and soundly.
“We have a vehicle in front of the mower, one behind it and then a giant Winnebago coming along as well,” he said.
“Some of the roads are very narrow so we have to make sure we stay safe.”
To donate to the Jim’s Mowing visit www.movember.com.
