Current V8 SuperUte driver, Aaron Borg, has signed up for this year’s Tour de Kids Challenge to raise funds for Starlight Children’s Foundation. The Starlight Children’s Foundation is Australia’s broadest-reaching children’s charity, brightening the lives of seriously ill children and teenagers across the country. It is a charity that is close to Borg’s heart, having directly benefited from the charity as a child where he was frequently in and out of hospital before having open-heart surgery at just seven years old.
“I’ve experienced firsthand the amazing work this charity does in brightening the lives of sick kids,” Borg said. “One of the few things I remember about my time in hospital is the Starlight Express Room where I was able to play Mario Kart with the friends I made in hospital.”
Borg has stated that he will be riding at least 750km during the month of September, but if he reaches his fundraising goal of raising $1,500 for Starlight, then he will up this distance to 1,000km. The distance becomes seemingly more difficult to ride as Borg currently resides in Sydney where he is restricted from travelling more than 5km from home.
“The current lockdown restrictions are definitely going to make it tough, but it’s nothing compared to what these sick kids and their families would be going through during lockdown. I had so much support around me when I was in hospital, but I can’t imagine how hard it is for these kids when they are limited with who can actually visit them.”
Tour de Kids is Starlight’s epic national cycling challenge. Founded in 2001, Tour de Kids was Australia’s first-ever charity bike ride and gives cycling enthusiasts the opportunity to help thousands of seriously ill children. Since its inception, Tour de Kids has raised more than $8.4 million for Starlight and helped more than 217,000 sick kids in hospital. The 2019 Toyota 86 Racing Series Champion will be working closely with Starlight Children’s Foundation and aims to help raise awareness and funds for the charity that helped him when he was younger.
“I’m very excited to be working closely with Starlight, not only for the Tour de Kids Challenge, but also with many of Starlight’s other amazing initiatives.”
This year, the Tour de Kids Challenge currently has almost 2,500 cyclists signed up and has already raised over $500,000 for sick children. You can donate to Aaron Borg’s fundraising page or to get involved yourself at tourdekids.org.au.