The Mooroopna and M.G. O’Brien halls, which sit alongside each other in McLennan St, Mooroopna, were badly damaged by last October’s floods, and an historic issue with GST registration made the management committee unable to apply for many of the flood recovery grants being offered.
Facing an impossible task to raise enough funds to make the halls usable again, the committee has received good news from the Greater Shepparton Foundation and Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project, which have committed to providing vital funding required to begin repairs.
“It's just amazing that the people of Shepparton have donated into the Lighthouse Project and to the Greater Shepharton Foundation to help organisations such as ours, little committees, to recover from the flood,” Mooroopna and M.G. O’Brien halls committee of management treasurer Christine Parnell said.
Mrs Parnell also said she had been pleasantly surprised by a $300 grant Goulburn Valley Water had provided for the committee’s water bill, saying all the assistance had given the committee a boost when it had previously held grave concerns for the halls’ futures.
“Okay, in the grander scheme of things, we probably aren’t that important, but we are important to the community,” she said.
“We’re a place where the community gathers, we’re a place where the community celebrates, where the community can learn things.
“We’re important to the community, but we have to be safe and we can’t be open to the community until we’re safe.”
Greater Shepparton Foundation executive officer Amanda McCulloch said the money donated to the committee was raised through the generosity of individuals and businesses in the region wanting to help with the flood recovery.
“Local money investing back into local assets,” Ms McCulloch said.
“It's really important that spaces like this are able to exist and are supported, especially in times like in floods.”
The Lighthouse Project says it has injected $141,000 into the flood recovery effort and the Greater Shepparton Foundation has distributed $70,000 through the community.
“It’s not just about the money,” Shepparton Lighthouse executive officer Amy Robinson said.
“We’ve had volunteers and our staff helping repair cars, get cars dried out, get people's cars back on the road.
“So I think for us, it’s about whatever it takes and whatever is really going to make an impact for people in the community.”
Each organisation is contributing $11,000 to the repairs, which is not enough for all the repairs needed, but is a significant and welcome contribution towards them, and other measures are being investigated to complete the work.
