It was a sweet start to the day for Ray White Group Head of Performance Management Adam Downes, who took to the stage in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD to call the auction of a tray of Queensland strawberries.
Today’s Smash a Strawberry Sundae event, hosted by The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation, was designed to raise money and offer support for the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association.
Stalls selling the iconic Ekka strawberry sundaes opened at 6.15am, with around 1,000 of the delicious ice creams gobbled up within the first hour.
Mr Downes was tasked with auctioning off a tray of premium quality Queensland strawberries, which sold under the hammer for $2,500 in front of a large crowd.
“It’s great to see businesses get behind the strawberry growers,” Mr Downes said.
“The crowd, local businesses and growers were all bidding to raise funds for the strawberry farmers so it was a great outcome.”
The winning bidder was Brisbane Markets Limited Chairman Tony Joseph, who purchased the strawberries on behalf of Your Local Fruit Shop.
“For the growers of Queensland, this means a lot,” Mr Joseph said.
“To put this show on, at short notice, is amazing and I thank the people involved.”
Sporting and Brisbane personalities helping to serve sundaes included netballer Laura Geitz, boxing champ Jeff Horn, tennis star John Millman, and Broncos and Reds players.
Key numbers from the day included 1,400 litres of Peters ice cream, 10,000 ice cream cones, half a tonne of juicy Queensland strawberries and 100 volunteers.
The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation CEO Michael Hornby said all profits from sundae sales would go to the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association.
“The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation has been running the Ekka strawberry sundae stalls for 29 years and usually all those funds go towards our cause, which is helping medical research,” Mr Hornby said.
“We’ve been relying on strawberries for all that time to fund research, and our researchers and scientists, inspired by the community, were encouraged to say let’s do a special strawberry sundae set-up for the first time outside Ekka, so we can raise some funds to give back to the strawberry growers of Queensland. It’s been absolutely remarkable.”
