Rough ‘n’ Tough Rally initiative raises N$1 million for Cancer
An excess of N$1 million was raised at the annual ‘Rough ‘n’ Tough Rally’ hosted by the Baard family over the weekend to the benefit of the Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN).
280 participants, 78 rally cars, and 35 backup vehicles participants, including a team from the CAN and additional media crew, completed the 1000 kilometres trek over three days.
Chief Executive of CAN, Rolf Hansen said the three-day challenge is undertaken annually through Damaraland and this year kicked off on 18 May and travelled offbeat track, mountain trails, and riverbeds through Omajete Village and up towards Khorixas where the rally ended at the Madisa Camp on the evening of 20 May.
“The beautiful story of ‘Rough n Tough’ is a community of classic and off-road car lovers, adventure and high-spirited enthusiasts who lived their passion this weekend and paid it forward to help others,” added Hansen.
Explaining the history of the rally, Hansen said it was initiated by Philipie Baard 6 years ago to answer his quest on creating an adventure experience for car lovers while giving something back to the community.
“What started with a list of possible participants, soon turned into one of the adventure highlights of Namibia off-road enthusiasts. Cars must be older than 30 years and participants must have a serious sense of adventure, while all are challenged to raise funds through their networks and family towards CAN,” he explained.
Previous donations were used in support of the National Cancer Outreach Programme and Patient Financial Assistance Programme of the organisations, while all funds raised through the 2023 event will be used to assist the establishment of the new palliative care unit currently under construction by CAN.
