Our Man Munchenberg and the Valley to Valley

 

Shane ‘Munch’ Munchenberg has joined a group of cyclists who are going on a ridiculously long ride, for a man of his age, or any age, to raise money for Ronald McDonald House.

 

I’ve known Munch since he left the butcher’s shop and came down the Angaston hill to go to uni in Adelaide. He studied Engineering.

 

Pound for pound, Munch is one of the better community footballers I’ve seen. He had a stint in the juniors at Norwood, before dominating in Adelaide Lutheran’s gun sides in the late 80 and early 90s. Such poise. I could swear Corey Enright watched Munch for years. Very similar players. Munch won a couple of Ammos B&Fs.

 

Munch has many qualities and I’m going to embarrass him by mentioning a few of them. Service is one. Gratitude is another. Humility is yet another. I could go on.

 

I didn’t realise Munch was a Rockford wine drinker so, when his fund-raising rise was mentioned in recent Rockford email, I got a pleasant surprise, particularly in the context of this initiative.

 

He penned a few words to explain what he’s up to, and I encourage you to support his endeavours.

 

 

 

I’m one of the lucky parents who has been fortunate to have a healthy child who’s needed minimal hospital treatment.  Many kids and their parents aren’t so lucky and I can’t imagine the stress and anxiety when a child is seriously ill and requires extended hospitalization.

 

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an organization that provides accommodation for parents and siblings from regional areas when a child requires hospitalization. The charity does not get any government funding and relies on fundraising and donations to survive.

 

In 2019 I decided to become a Night Owl volunteer where I stay overnight and am the caretaker to keep the house tidy and assist families as needed.

 

A major RMHC fundraiser is Ride For Sick Kids (RFSK) which allows me to cover my passions of cycling and volunteering. The 2020 RFSK was postponed a couple of times with the ride eventually taking place in March that year. It was 1000km from Melbourne to Adelaide and my personal fundraising reached just under $20,000 while the whole ride raised a magnificent $300,000. The picture is our 2022 ride group at the SA/VIC border with me in the yellow top (a reward for my fundraising).

 

 

 

 

The 2023 ride is titled Valley to Valley and is another 1000km. We’ll be riding around SA from Second Valley to Barossa Valley and Clare Valley and a few extra detours and loops along the way.

 

The requirement is to raise a minimum of $5000 so any donations would be greatly appreciated to help me reach and hopefully exceed my target.

 

The link to my fundraising website is: https://safundraising.rmhc.org.au/fundraisers/shanemunchenberg