Maroochy RSL has delivered funds and local-made toys towards families in need, in the lead-up to Christmas.
The club provided a $5000 sponsorship donation to Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre and it rallied the support of the Buderim Men’s Shed to craft 50 wooden toys for the Coast’s vulnerable children.
Maroochy RSL CEO Clare Paton said it was important to get behind community organisations, especially in 2020.
“We don’t underestimate that this can be particularly challenging time for some families in our community and even more so with the impact of COVID-19, so it’s really important that we all rally behind the local organisations helping them,” she said.
They help those who need basic essentials like food, clothing, education programs and at this time of year, Christmas presents.
“The Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre has featured prominently as a recipient of our donations for many years as they have all the resources and programs in place to provide that extra support,” Ms Paton said.
“The centre will host a Christmas feast onsite serving takeaways to keep within COVID-19 restrictions and are also preparing to deliver Christmas food hampers and gifts to 35 families which collectively include 48 children.”
“Christmas is meant to be an exciting time for kids but for many, there is not much to look forward to. Thanks to the team at the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre and the generosity of the Buderim Men’s Shed, there will be some extra smiles on the Sunshine Coast this Christmas, and we’re delighted that we could make a contribution to this important cause.”
A team of eight men at the Buderim Men’s Shed have been working in their ‘Santa’s workshop’ creating 50 wooden toys for children who might otherwise go without.
Club president Barry Cheales said they relished the chance to support local children.
“It takes hours to make the toys but there is a great sense of achievement in completing the final product as well as satisfaction in gifting them to the children in our local community,” he said.
“This is an example of the Sunshine Coast community coming together to help people in many different ways. Not only are the toymakers benefiting from working with their hands and creating something beautiful to give to the kids, they also get a chance to collaborate with other shedders — there’s real benefit in the sense of camaraderie and mateship they experience at the Shed.”
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Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre CEO Michael Henning said his team is grateful for the tremendous support.
“We have around 314 people access the centre each week. This year our Family Support team will be delivering gifts and hampers to each of the 35 family homes and we expect to see around 80 people attend our Christmas takeaway dinner,” Mr Henning said.
“We are partially funded for two specific programs and the rest of ours services and programs are unfunded including all the work we do around homelessness, as is much of the work around marginalised families. As such, we rely on the good will of the community to support the work we do in these areas and Maroochy RSL continues to be an important sponsor of the centre.”
The Maroochy RSL’s December donation of $5000 to the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre is expected to be used for their education program.
Maroochy RSL helps around 200 local charities a year, most recently having donated $1.45 million to Veteran and Sunshine Coast community in 2019.
Maroochy RSL has aided hundreds of charities during the past five years, donating more than $7million to those supporting our communities.
