August 24, 2026
“When cancer affects one of our own, they will not face it alone.”
These words from Cancer Council Queensland Board member Ben Cox at the recent Dinner With The Champions in Kingaroy summed up the reasons why so many people work so hard every year to organise the dinner to raise funds for the South Burnett’s Relay For Life campaign.
The three guest speakers at the annual sports stars dinner – long-distance swimmer Susie Maroney OAM; cricketer Adam Gilchrist AM; and dual union/league international Michael O’Connor – shared a lot of anecdotes and raised a lot of laughs, but there was also a very serious side to the night at Kingaroy Town Hall.
“Thank you to this community for proving that while sporting champions might inspire a nation, community champions can change the life of someone living just down the road,” Mr Cox told the audience.
He said more than 2000 people in the South Burnett region were diagnosed with cancer every year.
“Behind every one of them is a person, a family, a workplace, a sporting club, a farm, a community … this is where your generosity tonight becomes something real,” Mr Cox said.
He said more than $1 million had been raised in the South Burnett for Cancer Council Queensland over the years “because this community decided to act together”.
This year’s Relay For Life campaign has a target of $150,000 with more than $80,000 already banked.
Dinner committee chair Carl Rackemann said it was incredible to think of the number of people and businesses that had come together to make the Dinner With The Champions happen.
“It is phenomenal,” he said.
Carl thanked the major sponsor of the night, Bendigo Bank, as well as his small team of fellow committee members who made the event happen: Jenny Underwood, Robyn Broomhall, Simon Neal and Kimberley Kunde.
Bendigo Bank has sponsored the dinner for the past five years; representative Ross Leggett said Bendigo had donated $1.3 million back into the South Burnett community over the past 21 years.
The total raised on the night is still being calculated but as well as the ticket sales, funds raised came from a main auction, silent auction items, two “Last Man Standing” events, the sale of autographed books and a huge, multi-draw raffle.
The Last Man Standing auctions – everyone stands up, and then sits down when their limit is reached – sold 15 Relay For Life purple cricket balls for $210 each and seven Bulls Masters autographed cricket bats for $320 each.
The main auction, conducted by John Allery from Raine & Horne Kingaroy, raised a total of $16,605, including $5100 for a large freezer full of beef.
The 11 items in the silent auction raised a total of $8350.
The annual South Burnett Relay For Life fundraising campaign for Cancer Council Queensland will wrap up with the actual Relay at T.J. O’Neill Oval in Kingaroy on October 10-11.
(Yes, the event has gone back to its popular overnight format!)
