After donating a mammoth $20,000 to Rochester Lions Club, Tobin Brothers Funerals has now donated $10,000 to the Moama Lions Club — and they’re not stopping there.
They will be donating a total of $70,000 to different flood-affected communities, with Echuca Lions Club next on the list.
Tobin Brothers managing director James McLeod announced their plans at a dinner hosted by Moama Lions on Tuesday, March 1.
“Tobin Brothers was established in 1934 and and it was instilled by our founders to give back,” Mr McLeod said.
It’s a tradition that’s been carried on for generations.
Following the 2019-20 bushfire crisis, they donated funds to local Lions Clubs, who then dispersed the funds throughout the community.
“Why Lions Clubs? Because 100 per cent stays in the community and in the area that’s been impacted. They’re not giving away administrative fees,” Mr McLeod said.
“They’ve got their feet on the ground, they know what’s going on in the community, they know all the stories and they know who needs help.
“Wherever there’s a need, there’s a Lion.”
Mr McLeod, himself, has been a Lions Club member for 30 years, following in the footsteps of his father, who, was also a Lion.
After speaking with staff from Echuca in the weeks leading up to the floods, he knew Tobin Brothers needed to do something for the Campaspe and Murray River regions.
“I could hear the anguish in our staff members voices, the concern and the worry. It was the waiting that was getting to them,” he said.
“When the new year came around, we announced that we were going to donate.”
Tobin Brothers presented a $20,000 cheque to the Rochester Lions Club in the first week of February.
It was an emotional night.
“Ten of their members are still displaced and are living out of town and 91 per cent of the homes in Rochester have been lost,” Mr McLeod said.
“Driving through the town reminded me of a caravan and camping expo with all the tents and caravans that people are living in.
“To leave Rochester and then go to a café back home and hear someone whinging about their coffee just made you frustrated. It prompted me to write a piece in our work newsletter called ‘So you think you’re having a bad day? Well, then think about Rochester’.”
While at the cheque presentation in Rochester, a Lions Club member spoke of a man in town who fixes everybody’s cars at the drop of a hat.
He lost his car and his house in the floods and had no insurance on either.
“They have plans to buy him a second-hand car,” Mr McLeod said.
“ That’s the kind of thing that Lions do.”
One of the only conditions of the donation is that the Lions Clubs must not give away to district or national projects.
In 12 months time, Tobin Brothers will then come back to Moama and sit down with the Lions to find out what the money contributed to.
Moama Lions Club president Colin Hosking said they were currently looking at where the money was most needed in Moama.
“Our philosophy is: we raise it local and we spend it local,” Mr Hosking said.
Echuca Neighbourhood House was also presented a cheque for $2000 at the dinner, to go towards their flood relief fund.
The money was raised by the Moama Lions at their Christmas Carol event on December 18 of last year.
The carols were attended by more than 1500 people.
ENH manager Sarah Peake said the donation would go a long way.
“We are so grateful to the Lions Club for this generous donation,” Ms Peake said.
“While the river has gone down quite significantly and things look normal from the outside, we don’t want the impact of the floods to become out of sight out of mind.
“Recovery is a long road and donations like this enable us to keep supporting the community for however long it takes.”