Tom Parry
MORE than $3000 has been donated to the Gippsland Veterans Centre, courtesy of attendees at the Avalon Air Show.
Event volunteer Ron Gregory presented a cheque of $3300 to the centre on Wednesday, March 15.
According to Mr Gregory, the money was partly raised through a chartered bus journey that ran from Sale to the air show earlier this month.
The charter was run through Dysons Group – which supported the initiative via a low-cost hire fee – with 31 “air show tragics” boarding the bus.
Mr Gregory also raised money by cajoling his fellow volunteers into donating their free tickets.
Similar fundraising initiatives have been run during previous air shows.
“In the past five air shows, including this one, we’ve raised over $30,000 for various charities, and this time we decided to support the RSL (Patriotic) Fund,” Mr Gregory said.
As the Gippsland Veterans Centre secretary-treasurer, Ross Jackson explained to the Gippsland Times, the Patriotic Fund is a pool of money given exclusively to veterans and their families experiencing financial hardship.
“If they come in (to the centre) and they need something that makes their life a little bit easier – for instance, a walker or a piece of medical equipment – or they have trouble paying their child’s school fees or something like that, what we do is we pay it for them, and we take it out of the Patriotic Fund,” Mr Jackson said.
The fund is open to anybody associated with the armed forces – whether they have served, are a widow of a former serviceperson, or a member of their family.
Mr Jackson thanked Mr Gregory for his donation, saying it was “much appreciated” and will “go a long way” in delivering services for veterans and their families.
Mr Gregory also expressed his gratitude towards those who donated.
“I thank all the people that joined us on the bus – their money’s going to a good cause,” he said.
