September 15, 2014
The Murgon Rotary Club’s campaign to raise $70,000 to buy a new bus for the Castra Retirement Home has received a major boost thanks to a $10,000 donation from the Murgon RSL Sub-Branch.
RSL Sub-Branch president Jim Kingston handed over the cheque on Monday at a special presentation ceremony held outside the Murgon Services Club.
“We’re very pleased to donate this to Rotary to help them achieve their goal,” he said.
The Rotary Club began fund-raising to buy a new bus for Castra in April, and thanks to today’s donation Murgon Rotary President Glenn Kapernick is now confident the club will achieve its target by the end of November.
Mr Kapernick thanked the sub-branch for making “the biggest individual donation” so far, noting that many other local community organisations including the Goomeri Lions, the QCWA and the Australian Pensioners and Superannuants League, have also made donations towards the project over the past few months.
Funds have also been raised by auctioning off unneeded equipment from Castra when the facility was upgraded, as well as Rotary’s own resources.
More money is expected to be raised in coming months from a raffle which will be drawn at Moffatdale Ridge winery towards the end of November.
Castra’s bus is used to transport residents to activities outside the retirement facility.
Because it requires wheelchair access, a replacement will be more expensive than a normal bus.
The facility’s existing bus was purchased secondhand and is now “long past its use-by date”.
It will be sold as part of the upgrade when sufficient funds have been raised to replace it.
Former Murgon Mayor and long-time Rotarian Bill Roberts, who attended this morning’s cheque hand-over, praised the RSL Sub-Branch for their generosity.
“Castra is a wonderful facility that provides a valuable service and employs a lot of people,” he said.
“We’re very, very lucky to have it here in Murgon and it deserves everyone’s support.”
