Friends pass the hat around

The Friends of the Bendigo-Kilmore Rail Trail (FBKRT) recently donated $255 to the Heathcote SES Unit to help with fundraising to purchase a 4WD Medium Rescue Truck.

As mentioned in a recent post [https://bendigokilmorerailtrail.com/2024/12/12/friends-christmas-year-end-celebration], every year our group passes round the hat at our Christmas gathering and we donate the money to a local community group. This year we chose the Heathcote SES as they are a wonderful volunteer organisation that helps people out in times of emergency. As a bonus, the Community Bank Heathcote & District is matching donations, so that turned our $255 into $510, which is a huge boost for the fundraising effort.

In previous years donations have been given to Heathcote Food Share, Pyalong Community House and the Rochester Community House.

We want our Christmas donation to benefit the communities the trail passes, or will pass through, though we did make an exception for Rochester so we could help with their flood recovery.

SES volunteer Peter Duncan thanked the FBKRT on behalf of Heathcote SES and explained how the addition of the 4WD Medium Rescue Truck would help the unit on the more than 200 calls they respond to each year.

And of course, the hat that was passed around, was in fact one of the famous yellow FBKRT bucket hats! Only fitting.