Avoca Beach Red Cross had a real “mover and a shaker” of a night, raising $11,000 for its first fundraising event since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place.
The Masquerade Dinner was organised by long time member, Noelene Brasche, and new member, Matt Wynn-Jones.
Mary Mac’s, Ngaruki Gulgul School at Kariong, and Share the Dignity will all share the $11,000 profit from the event.
Brasche said members from each charity made a speech, and Member for Robertson Lucy Wicks also made an appearance.
“We had 95 people, and it was such a stunning night,” Brasche said.
“During the evening, the three major charities we support spoke very movingly about what the fundraising meant to them.
“I think that worked in a really good way as people were very empathetic of what they had to say.”
Wynn-Jones moved to the Coast around two years ago but only recently joined the Avoca Beach Red Cross.
He said the reason he got involved was because it was a good way to engage with the community.
“I catch up with the President of the Avoca Beach Red cross every morning for coffee,” Wynn-Jones said.
“We just got talking and reached some point of a dilemma of what the future of Avoca Beach Red Cross may be.
“We wanted to do this to support the heroic efforts of the founders of the group who worked tirelessly to support the local charities.
“We felt it had reached a bit of a dead-end with fundraising activities.
“I suggested we may be able to put together a fundraising dinner, so we did.
“We had a target of 100 people and a target of $10,000, which we were really happy to achieve.
“In organising the event, I aimed to do two things.
“The first, to get some additional engagement or some new interest and the second was to raise some funds for a great cause.”
Jacinta Counihan