Residents pool talent for sport and rec funds Support for Rebuild Molong helped raise $259,400.50 for town’s infrastructure. Kate Strahorn answers questions about the next steps for the group.
Highlands, donated $10,000 to be split across hockey, rugby, cricket and bowls, • Mosman Rugby Club donated $5,000 to the Molong Rugby Club, • Mosman Hockey Club donated $1,000, and • FigTree Unandeera Hockey donated $600. And it wasn’t just sporting clubs - retail businesses held charity nights and ran online raffles. • Sos Waddell, owner of CINT Boutique in Orange, raised a staggering $16,625, • Betty and Lola, ABOVE: Cass owners of boutiques in Sullivan, Kate Willoughby and Mosman Strahorn raised $2,122, and and Helen • Local Kate Greenwood Whittlet. from Greenwood Designs donated a L E F T: M a t t Ly o n s a n d percentage of her sales Stuart Hobbs. donating $2,802. • Local artist, Tash The final fundraising initiative Townsend worked with for 2022 was the sale of a pen of Steers from Madi at The Corner Store Gallery to donate Stirling Pastoral and a pen of heifers from Boomey her art, with all proceeds going to the Park at the Carcoar saleyards. The stock sales Rebuild Molong GoFundMe page. equated to $27,200. In November and December we received These three initiatives raised $259,400.50. numerous offers of support from businesses Where to from here? keen to assist. Rebuild Molong to be registered as an Cumulus Wines ran a campaign to donate a percentage of each case sold of their Incorporated Association. Rebuild Molong Inc. look forward to working cool climate Quilty and Gransden wines. with Cabonne Council and our sporting and They raised $5099. recreational clubs. Continued Page 9 Pontoon, a brand development business located in Manly, instead of purchasing Xmas Molong hockey fields could benefit from Rebuild Molong gifts for their clients, sent fundraising. Xmas cards letting them know that this year they had forgone Xmas gifts to instead support the Rebuild Molong GoFundMe campaign. As at the 26th of February 2023, the Rebuild Molong GoFundMe site had received 322 donations raising $102,098. In addition, Stuart Hobbs and ABOVE: Swimmers Rose Kelly, Lotte Bunting, Emma Simpson, Paul Glynn lined up 33 auction Willow Jasprizza, Evie Ryan. items to be auctioned in an BELOW: Tim Sullivanm and Kate Strahorn meet with Council. online charity auction through AuctionsPlus. Items donated included herd bulls from Gilmandyke Pastoral, Noonee Angus and Merit Farms as well as rams, semen and embryo packages, stud kelpie pups, meat and photography packages and a five-night stay in a Noosa luxury beachfront apartment. The online auction raised $112,102.50. Molong is indeed fortunate to have the support of so many agricultural enterprises who got behind this auction.
When the significant weather event happened on the 13th of November, an army of volunteers dropped from the sky to help clean up the debris and destruction. As Molong’s community came together to lift each other up as best we could, a group of Molong residents, concerned by the loss and devastation sustained, felt they could draw on their marketing and communication contacts and skills to raise awareness at a national level. They set up a campaign to help rebuild Molong’s sporting and recreational facilities damaged or destroyed by the wall of water that hit Molong that night. Sporting and recreational facilities were chosen as the fundraising target as it was felt that monies raised could make a meaningful difference to reinstate Molong’s infrastructure treasured by the town. Sport plays a critical role within country towns. It brings communities together. It brings people to town, that in turn support our local businesses. Members of the Rebuild Molong campaign felt the restoration of sporting facilities would bring some normality back to life for everyone affected. Where is Rebuild Molong up to? At the conclusion of last year, the Rebuild Molong campaign had raised over $250,000 to repair and restore Molong’s sporting and recreational infrastructure and equipment damaged on that November night. The Rebuild Molong GoFundMe page had an initial fundraising goal of $50,000. We initially raised just over $100,000, with many Sydney and regional sporting clubs making incredibly generous donations to see sport return to our town. • Briars Sports Club, of the Southern
