BENDIGO businesses united in support of the worldwide social media phenomenon that is the Ice Bucket Challenge for motor neurone disease.
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Hazeldenes Chicken Farm and Keech Castings Australia challenged their respective management teams to drench themselves with ice-cold water.
Keech Australia swapped mining for medicine on Friday.
It saw more than 40 employees and partners take part in the international challenge.
Employees were ‘iced’ outside the Keech Distribution Centre and heated up afterwards with a fundraiser sausage sizzle.
Keech employees Josh Brown and Mark Scott learnt of the Ice Bucket Challenge through social media and decided it was a cause worth supporting.
“Once we started asking around for support, we realised quite a few colleagues had been touched with personal experiences of motor neurone disease,” Mr Scott said.
Keech 3D sales and marketing manager Duncan McAdams knew how devastating MND was after watching his father suffer the disease for several months.
“His life disintegrated into nothing in a very short period of time,” he said.
Keech 3D and Keech's internal innovation and design department were nominated after the challenge.
Keech raised more than $1600 for MND.
Hazeldene's general manager James Thompson said it was a great event.
Hazeldene's used two front-loading tractors instead of buckets for their challenge.
"We all got well and truly drenched through," he said.
"The company contributed $1000 to research and staff members are contributing a number of different donations."
Mr Thompson said the challenge had created a lot of public interest and it was good to be part of something big.
"We all stood there and took our due much to the delight of the other staff around," he said.
He said the business had decided collectively to nominate politicians Damian Drum, Jacinta Allan and Maree Edwards.
Damian Drum responded to the nomination on Friday with a bucket to his head.