Mini ready for car charity run
Phil Schultz and Margaret Povey are gearing up to drive their mini from Kaitaia to Invercargill next month.
The classic car enthusiasts are one of 60 entries taking part in the Pork Pie Charity Run which is raising money for KidsCan NZ.
The run is six days and seven nights long and covers over 2,600kms with plenty of stops along the way.
The minis depart Kaitaia on Good Friday and follow the route from the Goodbye Pork Pie movie.
Two years ago Schultz saw footage of the run on television. He turned to Povey and said he wanted to do it.
‘‘There’s only one problem,’’ Povey said, ‘‘You don’t have a mini.’’
So he bought one. A yellow 1979 mini from Dunedin he had never seen before.
He has now owned his ’’baby’’ for a year and a half and taken it on a couple of long runs. It has 190,000kms on the clock so far.
The event is organised by One Tree Point residents Murray and Annie Hemsley.
The event happens biannually. In 2009 there were 38 cars and they raised $120,000 for Starship Hospital. In 2015, 57 cars raised $203,000 for KidsCan. This year they are aiming for $250,000.
They are holding a charity auction on March 25 at Benny’s Auction where 50 lots of donated items will be auctioned off for their cause.
‘‘The support we get is amazing, as soon as we mention KidsCan.’’
The convoy will be passing through Whangarei on State Highway 1 at approximately 9-9.30am on April 14.
❚ To donate go to givealittle.co.nz/ event/porkpiecharityrun2017