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Community

7 April, 2023

“Resilient” Garvoc raises quarter million

GARVOC may only be a town boasting a population around 250, but there are over a quarter of a million reasons why it is the state’s most generous community.


The Garvoc community, young and old, continue to get behind the Good Friday Appeal.
The Garvoc community, young and old, continue to get behind the Good Friday Appeal.

Garvoc has officially surpassed $250,000 in donations for the annual Good Friday Appeal, even with decades of donations not counting towards the total.

 The bulk of the funds have been raised through the annual Garvoc Community Goods and Services Auction, which was once again held over the weekend with 121 items up for grabs in support of the Good Friday Appeal. 

 Good Friday Appeal Garvoc area manager Cate Kelly said around 100 people attended the Garvoc hall over the weekend in the name of a good cause. 

“We had our auction on Sunday with a lot of donations from businesses and local community members, from sponges and cakes through to farm produce – with businesses in Terang, Camperdown, Cobden, Timboon and Warrnambool all donating goods,” she said. 

“It goes to auction under our great volunteers, Tim Healy and Jack Kelly, who have been doing it for years, and everyone had fun bidding against each other. 

“We had face panting for the kids, an Easter egg hunt and the Garvoc Country Fire Authority brigade cooking on the barbecue. “It was a great day and a well-attended event.” 

As Western District Newspapers reported last year, Garvoc broke its own record in 2022 with the annual auction raising an astonishing $26,665. For comparison, regional and rural Victoria in total raised just shy of $2.6 million for the appeal in 2022. While every dollar is crucial, 

Garvoc proves itself each year to be a community punching well above its weight. But it has only been since 2013 the community has officially been counted towards the tally. 

The auction has become a staple for the community, running close to its current form since the 90s after a number of local families had children treated through The Royal Children’s Hospital. 

“The total raised for Garvoc is close to $260,000 for the 20 years that we’ve been on the tally board,” Ms Kelly said. “We’ve only been on the tally board since 2013 as our own identity (Garvoc) but before that, in 1978, we started with local farmers having a pig raffle, then after some time a bit of a bric-a-brac, then it grew a bit to the local pub with a competition between Terang and Garvoc fire brigades.

 “But the money always went on the Terang total, so that was 45 years ago but we’re missing 25 years of money raised which did not count to the Garvoc total. 

“We know now from The Royal Children’s Hospital that Garvoc has raised just shy of $260,000 in the 20 years – which averages out to about $13,000 each year.” Ms Kelly said the total for such a small community was “just amazing”. 

“I think it’s just a very resilient community, which some people spoke to me about on Sunday,” she said. “We’ve had the Ash Wednesday and the St Patrick’s Day bushfires, we’ve had the floods where we got blocked in a few years ago, and the community just likes to come back for the only event we’ve got. 

“We’ve got no school or businesses such as post offices left in town anymore, but the appeal is one of the things the community keeps coming back to support.” 

Full details on funds raised will be included in next week’s Western District Newspapers publications. To donate visit goodfridayappeal.com.au.

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