Benalla and district once again dug deep to support The Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
Benalla and district Fire Brigades raised (as of 9am April 1) $57,595. Just down the road, Devenish Dookie and District — $193,240, and Wangaratta — $121,262, made the top 10 for the amount raised in regional Victoria..
The overall amount raised statewide was a record $23,368,724. In regional Victoria, $5,261,913 was raised.
Across the state, CFA volunteers were out in force collecting donations, and many fundraisers were conducted on a local level.
Benalla’s Mandy Johnson, who featured in last week’s Ensign, spent the first 21 years of her life calling The Royal Children’s her second home. Her fundraiser brought in an impressive $849.
You can still donate to that via fundraise.goodfridayappeal.com.au/fundraisers/helpmandyraisemoney/
Benalla CFA volunteer Ron Schultz leads the brigade’s fundraising efforts for the Good Friday Appeal.
“It’s been one of the best years for quite some time,” Mr Schultz said.
“Especially for the amount we collected throughout Benalla.
“The surrounding brigades supported the appeal really well, and we also had some help from SES volunteers.”
Mr Schultz said a special thank you to all the individual fundraisers this year, specifically mentioning the Symes family and Team Vinny.
"It’s the generosity of local people that means so much,“ he said.
“It’s such a worthy cause. Thank you to everyone who supported it.”
Benalla and District Good Friday Appeal Tally
Benalla — $57,595
Devenish Dookie and District — $193,240
Glenrowan — $8057
Mansfield — $16,629
Tatong — $27,888
Thoona — $594
Violet Town — $6168
Wangaratta — $121,262