Staff of the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources got together on Friday afternoon to fundraise for the Road To Gold campaign.

The Ministry’s three divisions in Labasa, Lautoka and Suva organised a gunu sede as part of their first fundraising drive to assist the Fiji men’s and women’s rugby teams.

Permanent Secretary Malakai Finau confirmed they collected more than $700 in Suva.

“We’ve yet to tally the amount collected in the North and Western divisions.

“This is the first fundraising and our Sports and Social Club are planning to organise more,” Finau said.

“We’ve decided to support our boys for the Olympics, it’s after long time 7s rugby is being introduced to the game and hopefully we win gold.”

Finau wished the Vodafone Fijian 7s team the very best.

“I wish the team the very best in Sydney and their preparation for the Olympics.”

Finau was the manager of the Fiji national 7s team which won the Melrose Cup (Rugby Sevens World Cup) in Hong Kong in 2005.

The Road To Gold campaign is the initiative of a group of volunteers to assist the Vodafone Fijian 7s team and the Telecom Fijiana in their financial preparation for the Rio Olympics this year.

Launched by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama last month, the committee is co-chaired by Fiji Sports Council chief executive officer Litiana Loabuka and Coca- Cola Amatil Limited national sales manager Lawrence Tikaram and aims to raise $800,000.