WHEN life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
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This sentiment couldn't be more true for Port Macquarie locals Matt and Bianca Adkins.
Following Matt's diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in February 2020 at the age of 39, the couple lived up to the quote and started the Lemonade Crew to help raise awareness about MND.
"It was the first thing Matt said after being diagnosed. He wanted to help raise awareness about the disease," Bianca said.
"He didn't know much about it at the time and wanted to help in some way that could help lead to finding a cause and a cure."
The Lemonade Crew creates funky, cheeky, and meaningful merchandise with the goal to show others that while facing a difficult challenge you can still make lemonade all while promoting awareness and understanding on MND.
"You always hope for a positive outlook but when you do get diagnosed with a terminal illness that hope can sometimes disappear. We didn't look at it that way and instead thought of how we could make a difference.
"Having two young kids as well, we wanted to show them how you can be resilient and that good things do come out of the bad."
Bianca said the support from the community over the past two years has been overwhelming.
"The community has been insane. It took us a while to get used to it because we feel a lot more comfortable giving and not receiving, but it has blown us away with how generous the community is," she said.
"What has been the most amazing is that the support has continued, it doesn't stop."
Bianca said there have been countless local businesses who have stepped up over the past two years to support The Lemonade Crew.
"The Burger Rebellion created the Matty Mac special which ended up being really popular, the Wauchope Football Club held a lemonade day and so did a few of the schools," Bianca said.
"We've also worked on collaborations with businesses such as CrossFit Cave Wauchope and Basement on Clifton. This has been great to see businesses help us raise awareness.
"It's something we want to continue into the future and join with other local businesses to help spread more information about MND."
This generosity has been shown recently when Matt and Bianca decided solar power was the way forward for them.
Matt now requires a breathing machine 24/7, with the added air-conditioning costs and cough assist machines, the couple's electricity bills were on the rise.
"Chris from V-Rock organised a concert to raise funds to help us and he ended up donating $10,000 to us which all went towards getting solar panels installed. Solahart also gave us a discount on the installation of everything," Bianca said.
"It has made us more self-sufficient and gives us more piece of mind when there's a blackout.
"It just blows our minds that there are so many good humans out there who want to help and support us."
The Lemonade Crew are working on new merchandise and hope to continue to raise awareness about MND in a fun and engaging way.
Their fun and meaningful merchandise can be found on The Lemonade Crew website.
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