Amongst the fun and frivolity at the Kenworth Klassic was a T360 KW agitator with a serious message. Images: Graham Harsant
The Clarendon Kenworth Klassic is a weekend where proud owners of the marque (and other brands) come together to meet new and old friends, to laugh and to make merry.
But amongst the fun and frivolity a T360 KW pulls in with an agitator on the back. And that Agi is adorned with blue butterflies and the words: Dolly’s Dream – Speak Even if Your Voice Shakes.
The truck belongs to Matt Lynch and his Nowra-based Eziway Concrete and stands out, not only because it gleams, but more so for its message. It eventuated that there was a little Dolly’s Dream village in the centre of The Klassic.
Dolly’s Dream was established in 2018 by Kate and Tick Everett in memory of their 14-year-old daughter Dolly, who took her own life after an extended period of bullying and cyberbullying. The organisation provides bullying support, counselling, school workshops and practical resources for young people, families and educators.
“My daughter, Logan had her own personal experience with bullying, which she endured for quite a few years,” explained Matt.
“It took its toll on her, and as she was coming out of those years, this was her way of paying back for what Dolly’s Dream offered her and has to offer, in raising awareness around the issues of bullying, and in particular online bullying.
“It had a significant impact on her life and our family. So it was it was her creation. She pushed me and it took a bit of convincing to put butterflies over a perfectly good blue Agi, but hey, we got there in the end. It’s been a real hit and it’s certainly got people talking. It’s one special truck.”
Matt’s involvement is much more than just running around with a painted up Agi. He, Logan and the family practice what the truck preaches and actively fundraise.
“To offer the services that they do, Dolly’s Dream, need money, so that’s part of the gig. We raise money every year, with May the main fundraising month. In the two years that we’ve been doing it, we’ve raised probably close to $280,000. This is just in the local area, from small businesses and the local township.
“My wife, Alison has pushed it pretty hard in all the businesses in town. On Dolly Day, they turn their shops blue and plaster all the Dolly’s Dream stuff everywhere. It’s about getting the message out.
“Each of those shops have a fundraising jar. Bakeries for example will bake blue donuts, bake blue bread, all that sort of stuff. We had probably 80-odd shops in in the town that went blue, which was really cool.
“In conjunction with that, we do a golf day, which has been a sell-out each year. As is usual it involves a little bit of golf, a lot of beers, a lot of fun and a lot of fundraising. We’ve raised over $75,000 from each of them just in the one day, and again that comes from the generosity of the local businesses and individuals who support it, which just blew us away.
“We thought we might raise $10 or $20 grand if we were lucky, you know, because we’ve never done fundraising before. It caught us by surprise, it really did. But I guess that underlines the problem that we’ve got in our society. People connected with it, and saw it as a really worthwhile thing. Their kids are going through a hard time; they want to change that so they’re happy to support it.”
“In the first year we had support from companies we’d never even done business with, who contacted us and donated money. And most of them were transport related. It just shows you that this industry are just a generous bunch of people and really good characters.”
Logan joins us and continues: “I originally saw the Dawson’s Haulage truck, and that gave me the idea of doing a butterfly Agi. It’s been a bit of a work in progress for the past four years to get it on the road, and it’s just had such a great impact since then.
“I went through quite a lot of bullying, starting around age 12. I had to deal with it across a few schools, and the online side had a massive impact on me.
“So this my way of giving back to the young kids that are struggling now. It was also a way for me to put my mental health problems into something, and it definitely helped me arrive at a much better place.”
What Logan, Matt and the family are doing is simply fantastic. Logan is a brave, strong young woman. A lot of young people succumb but it’s people like Logan who stand up and say they need to be heard, and that there is help out there for anyone that needs it.
From work shirts to $1.1 million
Next door to Matt’s Agi is a caravan, a large gazebo and a mountain of Dolly’s Dream merchandise. This is operated by Carlee and Aaron Knight.
“After hearing of Dolly’s passing, and then seeing her story on social media, I read her story, and it really touched me,” said Carlee.
“I was once a young country girl living on a farm, didn’t have any boundaries really. We’d be out with the horses and dogs and not a worry in the world.
“I couldn’t understand how that could happen to a young girl like I was. That said, I could see a bit of myself in Dolly. So I reached out to the social media page that was set up not long after she passed and said I’d like to do something to help.
“I began by embroidering Dolly’s message on the back of work shirts and donating back. I thought I’d just do it for a month and that if I could give them a couple of $100 towards what they were trying to do, I’d feel that I’d done my bit.
“Well, that turned into about $16,000 for the month, which sort of blew me away a bit. After speaking with the organisation again I said, ‘Would you want me to look at doing some more merchandise at no risk to the charity at all?’
“In other words I put the money up because I really believe in this. It just seemed to touch so many people. So what was just a basic shirt and $16,000 has grown to where we now have well over 70 items in the merchandise, and have donated over $1.1 million in eight years.
“We’re able to run workshops right across Australia in schools and communities to help communities and kids. We also have a parent hub. There’s plenty of easy to access resources on the website. So we encourage parents, kids, and teachers; anyone that is struggling, to reach out. But something that I’m really proud of is a 24-hour bullying support line that we now have available. (13 DOLLY / 13 36 55)
“The trucking fraternity is absolutely amazing. The support shown from so many people in this industry is just incredible. So we even have mud flaps now, and we have trucks right across Australia with ‘Dolly’s Dream, Be Kind’, mud flaps on their trucks. Like it’s really cool.”
Carlee is bringing Dolly’s message to the wider public.
A passion for cooking and the cause
Next in ‘Dolly’s Village’ is one Mick Camilleri. Every year, as those that come to The Kenworth Klassic would know, Mick cooks a mountain food, and for a donation, big or small, you get to eat.
“For the first couple of years I just did it for me and the boys, and then a heap of others people came in as well. I do a bit of fair bit with Dawson’s, so I said to them let’s turn this into something decent and raise some money for a good cause. And that cause is of course Dolly’s Dream.
“Then we got other people on board that donate meat and other bits and pieces. And there’s the help that I get from the girls and all my boys. I couldn’t do it on my own, it’s a team effort. It’s become a family thing – both my own and my business family.”
This is the second year Mick’s done it for Dolly’s Dream. This year he and the team cooked upwards of 500 kilos of the best, tender and most flavoursome meats on Mick’s array of slow cookers and smokers.
“I’m just a truck driver with a bit of a passion for cooking, I guess. Well, a passion for cooking, and a passion for a cause.
“And along the way we’ve created an atmosphere where people can come and relax. It’s a crazy weekend, but if you can relax a bit and enjoy it, it all helps, you know, mate.”
Rolling billboard raises awareness
This story would not be complete without the other piece of ‘The Village’.
Mark Inglis is the General Manager of Dawson’s Haulage out of Albury/Wodonga. Many will have seen the Dawson’s B-double plying the highway adorned with Dolly’s Dream signage.
“It all started with Goz (Graeme Dawson). I believe he’d seen the documentary on ABC Television, and was quite moved by the cause. The trailers were conceived in conjunction with Troy Kitchen at Freighter Trailers,” said Mark.
“They’d been talking about Dolly’s Dream and they came up with the idea of decking out a B-double set of tautliners for the cause.
“Since then it’s gained a lot of popularity and traction. We’ve since become a corporate sponsor of the charity, and we get involved with fundraising events such as this one. All the Dawson’s merchandise proceeds go towards Dolly’s Dream.
“Then Mick Camilleri came on board two years ago by cooking up here at Clarendon and offering food to everybody for a donation and that’s really gone bananas. Mick, he’s an absolute beast.
“His hospitality and catering are just second to none. So it’s really turned into something. The amount of people who’ve shown up here over the weekend just to support the cause and eat great food is unbelievable.
“It’s (bullying) not really happened to my family, but I can appreciate what others go through, having four kids myself. Sadly it seems to be ‘par for the course’ for being a teenager these days at high school. So we’re here to say no!”
The term ‘Legend’ is bandied about a little too easily these days, but these good people and the many who are involved with Dolly’s Dream are Legends in the truest meaning of the word.
If you or anyone you know is affected by bullying, call 13 DOLLY (13 36 55), or in an emergency call 000. SPEAK EVEN IF YOUR VOICE SHAKES.
