General News
3 December, 2024
Grants support local groups
Over $80,000 has been awarded to 13 community groups to support various local projects and events for residents to enjoy.
The Community Bank Avoca, Maryborough and St Arnaud announced the recipients of their annual Community Bank Grant program last Tuesday.
According to executive officer Julie Driscoll, the program showcases how the back continues to benefit the local community.
“The grant program is an integral part of why the community bank model is set up and is deeply ingrained in what we do,” she said.
“We can only do this program because of our customers, if the local community doesn’t bank with us, we can’t give money back.
“We help recipients through every step of the way. I really like helping people who may not have written a grant application before.
“When those people receive the grant, I love the satisfaction that they have from knowing all of that hard work paid off.”
This year’s community grant recipients include:
Maryborough Lions Club — $29,034 to upgrade the barbecue located at Goldfields Reservoir.
Avoca Fire Brigade — $9697 to purchase breathing apparatus.
Avoca Cemetery Trust — $8965 for lawn section extensions.
Pyrenees Community Food Pantry — $4850 in funding for their Food Security Program.
Avoca Friends of the Pool — $1724 to facilitate their slide into the season event.
Casablanca Movie Club — $1400 for their Celebrate with Community event.
Asteria Services — $1200 towards their wildlife animal activity for next year’s NAIDOC Week.
The Maryborough Lions Club received the largest grant to build a new electric barbecue, shelter, seating and lighting at Goldfields Reservoir.
The project has been a priority for the club since 2022, according to secretary Gary Hutchinson.
“I happened to be at the Goldfields Reservoir when people come over from Colac to have a barbecue and they were disappointed by the current state of it,” he said.
“They said ‘fancy a place like this having a barbecue like that’ and I thought they were right and we needed to do something about that.”
The Lions club will allocate up to $70,000 to facilitate their project, with the Central Goldfields Shire Council managing construction and maintaining the facility once completed.
Mr Hutchinson said the recent grant was the final push the club needed to make the project happen, which is set to begin in February.
“We looked for two years for grants from the state and federal governments and nothing ever came that could have been used for this project,” he said.
“That’s when the community bank became involved and they came good with the $29,000 which is fantastic.”