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On your marks: Charity run races to raise a massive tally

By Rechelle Zammit

Jun 28, 2024

On Thursday, June 20, the Shepparton Lions Club took off around Victoria Park Lake for the local leg of the 2024 Lions Charity Run.

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For this year’s broader event, eight international runners from Poland, Ukraine, Germany and Canada ran 946km from Sydney to Melbourne, with the goal of raising money for charities around the world, and joined in on the local leg of the event along the way.

The runners left Sydney on Sunday, June 16, and wrapped up with a conference in Melbourne on Friday, June 21, where they were greeted and celebrated by Lions Club International President Patti Hill and Lions Club International Foundation Chairperson Brian Sheehan.

This year, the runners successfully raised more than $30,000 to go to two children’s charities, one in Australia and one overseas.

The Australian charity is Marri Mittigar, which is the only refugee school in Australia.

The other half of the money will go to a school in Cambodia, to help children under the age of six.

As the event reached Shepparton, local members joined, and even Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell double-knotted his laces and got on his mark, eager to join in the fundraising fun.

The News photographer Rechelle Zammit went along to capture the event. Here’s what she saw.