Kyabram Good Friday Appeal co-ordinaor Mick Crompton, a long-time volunteer with Kyabram CFA, led a large door-knocking “army” through the streets of Kyabram on Friday. Among the contributors was Tilli Findlay, rewarded with some Easter eggs for her contribution to the town total of $31,671.
Fire brigades in Victoria have contributed more than $1.5 million to a record-breaking Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
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Kyabram CFA was again home base to the appeal this year and raised $24,367.15, which was included in an overall town total of $31,671 (a figure including online and phone call donations).
Members from the Kyabram Fire Brigade, Merrigum Fire Brigade, Kyabram SES Unit and Victorian Police were out in force for the Good Friday Appeal, fire brigade tankers, police and SES signalling their arrival in streets with blaring sirens from nine in the morning.
Good Friday Appeal co-ordintor Mick Crompton said it was a great community effort.
“A massive thank you to each and every one who volunteered their time to help out with this year’s Good Friday Appeal,” Mr Crompton said.
“The total included donations made direct by the public and money raised from our Woolworths store.
“As a CFA brigade we couldn’t have achieved what we did without the support of Kyabram Parkland Golf Club, Merrigum CFA, Richie’s IGA Kyabram, Kyabram Main Street Butchery, Kyabram CFA, Kyabram SES Unit, Masons Mission-One In Half A Million, VicPol, Kyabram GMCU, Kyabram Free Press and Kyabram P-12 College.”
Record-breaker: The 2023 Good Friday Appeal for the Royal Children's Hospital set a new record of $23,061,320.
Matt Ford, a long-time CFA volunteer, even provided the support of the Ky West Hotel bus to transport volunteers to locations around the town for the door-knock campaign
Mr Crompton said the biggest thanks went to the members of the community for digging deep for such a great cause.
Across the state CFA volunteers raised a remarkable $1,606,287. That was among a record-breaking overall 2023 tally of $23,061,320.
Kyabram appeal co-ordinaors chose not to knock directly on doors this year, instead using the sound of sirens to signal their arrival in streets. Several people were already at their front gates waiting for the early morning collectors.
They did, however, descend on the visitors to the town — a crowded riverside free-camping area at Ayson’s Reserve responding well to the appeal, along with guests at the town’s two caravan parks.
The CFA has been a major fundraiser of the Good Friday Appeal for the past 72 years, having raised more than $37 million for the RCH since 1951.
Just west of Kyabram, at Echuca-Moama, the twin towns had a total of $100,025. That was marginally better than the Bendigo tally of $92,877, with Ballarat the state’s leading regional contributor with $199,173.
Devenish and Dookie, which conduct a major event each year to support the appeal, again dwarfed the tallies of several much larger towns. They combined to raise $120,248.
In the past seven years the Devenish, Dookie and Districts Good Friday Appeal has gone from raising $22,711 in 2017 to more than $100,000 in 2022 and then $120,248.
Its total from the seven-year period is $511,477.24. Every year farmers from the region raise sheep and steers for sale, in aide of the RCH Appeal.
It was second only to Ballarat on the regional tally board and ahead of Geelong and Wodonga.
Tongala created a new record with a total of $9353, while Girgarre contributed 2945 to the statewide total.
Stanhope raised $3384.75 and the tiny riverside community of Nathalia raised $19,139.
In what has become an annual Easter tradition in Victoria, more than $421 million has been raised in donations to deliver the best possible care to patients and their families since the appeal began in 1931.
Family affair: Kayne Crompton, the teenage son of former Kyabram CFA captain Mick, was among the volunteers door knocking alongside firefighting vehicles, police cars and SES unit devices in the streets of Kyabram.
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