by Sahar Foladi
Take a Swing Golf charity has done well in raising funds to help expand the Noble Park Community Centre food relief program.
The annual charity event held on Monday 17 February at Commonwealth Golf Club in Oakleigh South this year focused to raise funds for the community centre’s kitchenette, increasing the program’s service by 200 additional meals per day for the community.
President of the governance committee at the community centre, Roz Blades says the event was “remarkable.”
“Weather God smiled on us and the facility was beautiful.
“We had huge amount of auction prices the community had been fantastically generous with their donation.
“Our volunteers did a wonderful job in getting everything ready.”
Over 76 local business people participated in the event with an early indication of $40,000 raised to directly benefit those in need and double the NPCC’s provision of meals and services for individuals and families from all walks of life.
Council will announce the official amount raised in coming weeks.
Ms Blades says this will do better for the wider community.
“What we have in Noble Park is almost humanitarian crisis where people don’t have enough to eat and we need to supply facilities for disabled people.
“We’ll get some money for food for people, it’s all about Noble Park responding to a need, and the need is enormous.”
The organisation and its volunteers provide a weekly free Tuesday lunch where people can gather for lunch and also mingle with one another to target social connections as one of the key issues faced by the community.
The centre currently supports over 1100 families and individuals within the community.
The joint Greater Dandenong City Council and Industry event is a unique golf day that offers local business and industry the chance to give back to the community.
This year’s event marked the initiative’s 16th birthday helping thousands in the community, including those experiencing food insecurity, poverty, homelessness, domestic violence and health issues.
Since its inception the event has supported more than 18 local charities and funds raised have also supported programs to remove barriers to employment and assist people with disabilities.
Through small group of local business and industry sponsors, the event has raised more than $660,000 over its history. An exact amount has not been finalised as volunteers are still hard on counting the amount raised.
Last year it raised $51,000.
