Heron achieves Legacy target

What started as a modest challenge to grow a beard and ride an exercise bike from dawn to dusk continues with more than $20,000 raised by the Heron detachment for Legacy.

The Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) detachment at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan made good on their pre-deployment promise to raise money for Legacy through a 90-day beard challenge and 12-hour “Dawn until Dusk” bike marathon with $20,437 raised at the end of June.

The Heron detachment’s Executive Officer, Squadron Leader John Jenkins said the team decided on a Legacy charity fundraising plan during their operational training at Woomera with the current result exceeding their expectations.

"We had a lot of fun with growing the beards and also with the bike ride at the Kandahar Airfield boardwalk. Our team’s efforts saw us easily surpass our modest targets," he said.

Donations kept flowing in with the help of some very persistent Facebook campaigning, notably Flight Lieutenant Adam Glanville who raised almost $4300 on his own through friends and family in Mackay.

"The Dawn until Dusk exercise bike ride on the boardwalk pitted rider against 40C degree heat, saddle soreness and a minor dust storm. It was a fantastic effort from everybody involved and we really appreciated the help of a few Australian Army personnel from the 205th Coalition Advisory Team at Camp Baker.

Heron detachment personnel are keen to continue with their fundraising and have a revised target of $25,000, this is within our grasp based on the continued support we receive while on operations."

The Heron RPA provides high resolution Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance in Afghanistan supporting ISAF Regional Command-South.

Click on these links if you would like to donate to Heron Rotation-14’s charity fund.