
The Ballarat community has raised thousands of dollars for FightMND to help find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease.
The Peel Street Coles raised the most money out of all Coles Australia stores, handing over a total of $77,000 while Coles Wendouree came third, raising $69,000.
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"I think it really resonates with the Ballarat community," Coles Wendouree store manager Matthew Kulhan said.
"It is an amazing cause that we should all get behind."
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Mr Kulhan said all of the staff had been supportive of the cause and had helped get the stores to their high rank.
"We are all wearing the beanies in stores to be able to sell extra beanies," he said.
On a typical cold Ballarat day, eight degrees and a little bit windy, five Coles store members - along with two Stockland staff members and two store managers - subjected themselves to an ice cold bucket of water.
FightMND campaign director Bec Daniher said she was blown away by the support of the Ballarat community.
"We are so thankful and we are so grateful," she said.
"Without the support of people like Coles and their customers, we would not be able to do what we need to do to find effective treatments and a cure for MND."
Ms Daniher said the Ballarat weather was perfect for the beanies and she was glad to see so many people wearing them.
"It says to people out there that are currently battling MND or have lost someone with MND, that there is an army behind them, they care and want to help find an answer to this beast."
Ms Daniher said she never imagined the organisation could receive this much support when at the beginning she was packaging beanies around her kitchen table.
"More importantly we have started the conversation about what MND is," she said.
"When Dad (Neale Daniher) was diagnosed back in 2013 I did not know what it was and every time we spoke to people about it we had to explain what it is.
"Now there is so much more awareness about it and people are talking about it."
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