By Jed Lanyon
Lilydale’s Bridge Builders Youth Organisation held a partners dinner to say thank you to many local individuals and businesses who have shown support on their journey, in some cases dating back a decade.
Bridge Builder executive officer Beck Mitchell said it was a “pretty special night” as donors got to meet the volunteers of Bridge Builders, who were able to give thanks for their support.
“It’s the first time in our organisation’s history where every type of supporter for us is in the same room, whether they be volunteers, sponsors, donors,” she said. “Our supporters got to see where their money is going and the faces of the people who are on the ground. And then our team were able to see the huge amount of support from the people in the background.”
Bridge Builders honoured those who had provided tremendous support over the years with an honour board featuring their names. Ms Mitchell said community contributions over the last decade tallied $487,000.
Ms Mitchell said it was a night to put a spotlight on those who had otherwise been silent in their bid to help Bridge Builders, including the organisation’s biggest supporter over the last decade in Leanne De Bortoli.
“She’s often giving out of her personal purse and she’s always supporting our girls retreat and she’s often used her maiden name on the paperwork.”
Another supporter, Linda Furneaux, started donating because her son needed support and was a participant in the Bridge Builders program.
“She’s the kind of lady who likes to give silently and doesn’t want the bells and whistles attached, but wants to support us because of her personal experience.
“We’re always trying to give honour where honour is due and that’s what the night was all about … We were all excited to see her face and shake her hand.”
Another long-term contributor was Wendy Scott, who has made over a thousand jars of jams, chutneys and sauces to sell to residents of Lilydale’s Tudor Village, who are always happy to support the worthy cause.
Ms Scott has a personal connection to Bridge Builders as her grandchildren went through the program.
“I’ve always had an interest in education and children,” said Ms Scott, who worked in primary, secondary and tertiary education or over 40 years. “I felt Bridge Builders was probably my cup of tea in more ways than one.”
She described the partners event as “a happy night”.
“It was a bit embarrassing when they announced what I had done, the young people went woo! It was lovely because they don’t know me and I felt really honoured and it was lovely to have the recognition.”
Ms Scott helped raise about $8500 over four years, including one generous, but anonymous, donor who contributed $50 a week to the cause for quite some time.
But it’s not just the monetary donations that were recognised and tallied.
“Some people give in kind, but we still count that as a contribution as a dollar figure,” Ms Mitchell said. “We see that as an equal contribution as it’s something we may have had to pay for anyway.”
An example would be David Baxter, who helps service Bridge Builders’s photocopier, one that he had provided over ten years ago.
“It’s just the small things, you run out of ink and we just call him up and he turns up the next day to swap it over, no questions asked. It’s just taken care of.”
“It’s such an odd thing but just one of those small things that because of his skillset and time availability, it’s community funding we don’t have to spend on office admin costs. Some people might not think of it as a valuable resource, but to us it’s gold.”
