Melita and Joe Raabe were announced as winners of “Ruby” – a custom-built 1947 Chevrolet Maple Leaf Single Cab rebuilt on 2019 Hino 4x4 running gear – before a crowd at the event’s Race Central precinct. The draw raised $460,000 for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research, bringing NTI’s cumulative total to approximately $3.5 million since the program launched in 2017, according to the company. All proceeds are administered through the MND and Me Foundation and directed to the NTI MND Research Grant. The Raabe family described their participation as a recurring commitment. “We buy tickets to the NTI raffle every year because we want to support MND wherever we can. Winning Ruby is incredible, but being able to contribute to something so important makes it even more special,” Melita Raabe said in NTI’s media release.
The program’s roots lie in the diagnosis and subsequent death of a former NTI chief executive. NTI CEO Janelle Greene has described Wayne Patterson as “the leader who created the modern NTI,” and said the company wanted to honour his legacy in a meaningful way after he died from MND in 2018. The company’s then-CEO Tony Clark framed the founding decision in terms of industry mobilisation: “We could donate money, but we really wanted to engage the transport industry and the insurance industry.” The team settled on restoring and raffling a vintage truck – a format that reflected both NTI’s identity and Patterson’s values. Greene reiterated that connection in NTI’s 2026 media release: “This cause is close to our hearts at NTI. Through the generosity of our industry and community, we’ve been able to raise around $3.5 million for MND research since the first raffle in 2017.”
NTI'’s program has produced a documented record of named grant recipients. The inaugural grant went to University of Queensland associate professor of pharmacology Trent Woodruff for research into manipulating free fatty acid receptors to address the immune response in MND. A subsequent grant funded University of Queensland researcher Dr Rebecca San Gil at the Queensland Brain Institute, whose work focused on whether repairing damaged proteins could stop or slow disease progression. The 2025 grant was awarded to QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute’s Dr Lotta Oikari, who used stem cells to develop laboratory models of the blood-brain barrier in people with MND – research she described as “a crucial stepping stone for developing new treatments.” Grants are assessed and ranked through a competitive process overseen by the Motor Neurone Disease Research Institute Australia (MNDRIA) committee, with funding structured to support researchers in obtaining larger grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council. The 2026 grant recipient had not been announced at time of publication.
An estimated 2,752 Australians were living with MND in 2025, projected to grow to more than 4,300 by 2050, according to Every Moment Matters – a 2025 report commissioned by MND Australia and independently produced by health economics consultancy Evohealth. The same report estimated MND’s total economic and disease burden cost at $5.02 billion in 2025, rising to $7.51 billion by 2050 under current care models.
The funding gap is structural: in 2025, 63% of those diagnosed with MND were aged 65 or over and rely on a support program that provides a maximum funding level equal to just 36% of what the average National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant receives. Industry-sourced research seed funding operates in a context where government support for the majority of patients falls significantly short of NDIS-equivalent levels.
The program’s commercial dimension is relevant context for insurance professionals. Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) data shows insolvency appointments in Australia’s transport, postal, and warehousing sector rose from 196 in FY2021-22 to 495 in FY2023-24. CreditorWatch data cited in Grant Thornton’s March 2026 analysis found 8.46% of road transport businesses exited the market in the 12 months to November 2025 – around 40% higher than the year before – with pressure described as structural rather than demand-driven. NTI has separately invested over $4 million into the transport sector over the past five years through partnerships with Australian Trucking Association (ATA) member associations. Together, the raffle program and industry investment represent a sustained approach to stakeholder presence at a time when client attrition in NTI’s core market is running at historically elevated levels.
The approach is not unique to NTI. Australian insurers including Youi and Budget Direct have recently linked sports sponsorships with charitable initiatives, reflecting a broader trend of combining sponsorship activity with community investment. NTI’s program combines a long-running fundraising campaign with disease-specific research grants and transport-themed prizes aligned with its specialist customer base.
The 2026 grant recipient announcement – expected in the months following the Townsville 500 draw – will indicate whether the program’s research outcomes continue to scale alongside its fundraising totals.
