By JESSE GRAHAM
HUNDREDS of people gathered at the Healesville RSL on Saturday to help support a children’s charity.
RSL hosted their sixth annual family fun day event to raise money for the Very Special Kids charity’s Piggy Bank Appeal, which provides support to families of children with life-threatening illnesses.
This year’s event, on Saturday 14 September, saw the car park of the venue filled with shops, food stalls, animal farms, performers and even a mechanical bull.
Local musicians The Hannafords entertained the crowds passing through and Healesville CFA member Damien Beeby manned an information stall in front of a fire truck with Healesville police Senior Constable Chris Grasby and SES member Robyn Argent.
Face painting, a jumping castle and pony rides were all available for children and a sausage sizzle was held with the help of staff from the venue, volunteers, and RSL president Brian Luscombe.
Event organiser and manager at Healesville RSL Suzanne Serra said the event was a great success, with over $8500 raised for the charity, as compared to $7000 at last year’s event.
“I’d really like to thank the Healesville community and everybody that helped us to raise these much-needed funds for the Piggy Bank Appeal,” she said.
“The community response was overwhelming – it brought me to tears a few times.
“There was a lot of awareness of the Very Special Kids Piggy Bank Appeal – it’s just a really worthy organisation to assist.”
Mrs Serra said the RSL had supported the Piggy Bank Appeal for around eight years, with the family fun day running for the last six.
For more information on the Very Special Kids charity, visit www.vsk.org.au.
