Leading South Australian crane hire company, Load 28, are partnering with Starlight Children’s Foundation to help raise money for sick kids.
‘Barney the Starlight Crane’ has joined the Load 28 fleet and over the next six months will work hard on building sites across Adelaide to help grant five Starlight Wishes for sick kids experiencing hospitalisation and serious illness.
The idea to support Starlight came to Load 28 Managing Director Marcus Rigney when the near new mobile crane he had recently acquired was painted bright purple. With an urgency to get the 60 tonne Liebherr crane up and running, there was no time to paint it in the Load 28 corporate colours.
“We needed an additional crane for our mid-range fleet and we found the perfect near new crane to buy; the issue was that it was painted purple,” said Marcus Rigney, Managing Director of Load 28.
For the first time, Rigney and Load 28 has utilised the services of The Baden Davis Crane Connection to secure the Liebherr LTM1060-3.1. He explains how this came about.
“I had been speaking to Jeff Wilson from Finlease, regarding the loan approval process, and he knew we needed the crane quickly and suggested I call Anthony Davis at The Crane Connection. I called and Anthony was extremely helpful, he had a list of available equipment and suggested this machine was a unit that met my criteria and would suit my requirements. It was exactly what I was looking for… except it was purple,” he said.
“We had been advised by Liebherr that there would long lead times for a new model, and we needed something urgently to put in the fleet. When we ordered the crane, Anthony locked in the machine immediately and within a week it was on the ship. It was really perfect timing.
“The LTM 1060 is a popular model and Liehberr is a preferred brand for us. We were looking for a machine to help out our mid-size fleet. The LTM 1060-3.1 is an amazing piece of kit, easy to use and navigate around site,” said Rigney.
“Given how busy we are at the moment, there was no time to paint the machine in our company colours. So, we thought we could have some fun with the crane and use its vibrant colours to help raise some money for a worthy charity,” Marcus said.
“We decided to name the crane ‘Barney the Starlight Crane’ and over the next six months, a portion of the machine’s hourly rate will be donated to Starlight to help grant five Starlight Wishes to give sick kids something to look forward to and to create new memories for them to treasure forever,” he said.
Load 28 is also encouraging its valuable clients and the general public to use the QR code on the side of the crane or to visit their fundraising page to donate towards Starlight.
According to Starlight’s State Partnership Manager Andrew Duncan, Adelaide has the highest demand per capita for Starlight Wishes and with the current economic climate, many of these are going unanswered.
“Given the challenges of the past year we are not seeing as much support for these sick kids and their families, so when Load 28 contacted us to advise they were going to use their new crane to raise money for Starlight, we were overwhelmed; it was such a creative and thoughtful way to give back,” said Andrew.
“When sick kids’ worlds are filled with hospital and treatment, a Starlight Wish is an incredible gift of happiness.”
“When you grant a Starlight Wish, you help sick kids and their families leave the pain of treatment behind and enjoy more of what matters most – fun, joy and shared happiness.” Andrew continued.
“By supporting Barney the Starlight Crane, you are providing a once-in-a-lifetime gift that helps sick kids’ dreams come true so please help us help them and donate today,” said Marcus Rigney.
Support ‘Barney the Starlight Crane’ by spreading the word and donating today at https://starlightfundraisers.org.au/load28cranehire.