Raising $10,000 from their annual Charity Golf Day, the Whitsunday Lions have distributed the monies to three local charities, The Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Network, Whitsunday Counselling and Support, and Proserpine Hospital Auxiliary, in a special ceremony held at Whitsunday Green Golf Club on Saturday.
“We’re amazed at the amount of support we get,” said Allan Gravelle, a representative from Whitsunday Lions.
“One of the really important aspects of fundraising is the number of local businesses that come and contribute, and the businesses here are very generous.”
On the Golf Day held earlier this year, Whitsunday Lions saw over 150 competitors take to Whitsunday Green Golf Course, many of which were business teams.
$4000 from the day was donated to Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Network, which will fund counselling services, including post-suicide resilience counselling.
“It is really difficult to talk about suicide,” explained Matt Stokes, Committee Member of Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Centre.
“We are very grateful for this donation to help fund our counselling services to families post suicide.”
Whitsunday Counselling and Support were the recipients of another $4000 sum.
“We would like to thank everyone for this very generous donation,” said Leanne Althaus, Administrative Services Manager.
“We are going to put this money towards establishing a teenager room, so that teenagers who are victims of domestic violence and abuse are able to engage in counselling to recover from their trauma.”
Proserpine Hospital Auxiliary received $2000, to go towards much-needed equipment for the hospital.
“Over half of the equipment at the Proserpine Hospital has been supplied by different community groups,” explained Lola Moody, a representative of the Proserpine Hospital Auxiliary.
“This donation gives us the power to buy things to make patients more comfortable and make the strain on our nurses easier, so thank you.”
Whitsundays Lions encourages any community organisations to reach out if they’re facing tough times, as they endeavour to help wherever they can.
Whitsunday Lions donated funds to Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Network, Whitsunday Counselling and Support and Proserpine Hospital Auxiliary. Photo credit: Bronte Hodge
