On Thursday 20 June 2019 the Knox Community Bank Group held their annual Community Grants Awards Night!

This event is a highlight on our community calendar and is the culmination of a lot of hard work by the Knox Community Bank Group team and their community partners alike.

It was an emotional and incredibly uplifting night as we heard from each community partner who received a grant. This year the Knox Community Bank Group were able to give over $60,000 back to our local community through this wonderful program.

Among the recipients, Gully News Editor Anne Boyd was there to accept a grant on behalf of the Ferntree Gully Traders, and gave the following speech:

Grant recipients

• Foothills Community Care received a grant to produce meals for the homeless and socially disadvantaged.
• Peace and Loyalty Freemasons Lodge received a grant to fund bursaries for financially disadvantaged children currently attending school.
• Liberty Avenue Three Year Old Kinder received a grant to purchase and install water play equipment at the Kinder.
• The Basin Music Festival received a grant to help fund the production and operation of the The Basin Youth Stage Summer Concert.
• Rowville Senior Citizens Centre received a grant to fund the purchase of mats for the Club’s indoor bowls area and a second grant of $448 to be used to purchase a new sound system for use at the Club.
• Ferntree Gully Eagles Football and Netball Club Junior Division received a grant to purchase a new line marker machine for the Club.
• Knox Italian Community Club Rowville received a grant to purchase and install CCTV equipment at the Club.
• The Links at Waterford Residents Association received a grant to build adjustable shelving for the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre.
• Knox and District Toy Library received two grants. The first grant will be used to purchase ‘Family time toys’ and the second grant will be used to purchase signage to aid in the promotion of the toy library.
• Mountain District Learning Centre received a grant enabling them to purchase laptop computers for the Learning Centre.

MDLC Board Members at the Bendigo Bank Grants Presentation. L-R: Robyn Burke, Pat Rivett and manager Janet Claringbold. Photo by Barbara Oehring.

• The Gully Men’s Shed received a grant to purchase a new fridge to be located at the Men’s Shed.
• Ferntree Gully Village Traders received a grant to purchase sound equipment for various local events throughout the year.
• Liberty Avenue Play Group received a grant for the redevelopment of the centre’s indoor spaces.
• Coonara Community House received a grant to establish a ‘reminiscence support group’ for isolated people with early dementia.
• Upper Ferntree Gully Football Club Inc received a grant to fund several projects at the Club including equipment purchases for the teams and to develop and protect the pitch at the ground.
• Regency Calisthenics College received a grant to fund the purchase floor mats for the College.
• Knoxfield Cricket and Sporting Club received a grant to help fund their ‘Day on the Green’ event incorporating music, food and fun family activities.
• Rowville Uniting Church received a grant to help fund the purchase of food items for the Churches Democracy Sausage Sizzle and in turn support their fundraising initiatives.
• Winter Sleepover – Foothills Community Care received
  a grant which will be used to fund the Winter Sleepover
  program.
• CFA (Rowville) Knox TRIP Program received a grant to fund TRIP, which is the Teenage Road Information Program.
• Rowville/Lysterfield Community News received a grant to support the 226 volunteers who work tirelessly to distribute 14,000 copies of this paper every month.
• The Basin Fire Brigade received a grant to purchase a thermal imaging camera to further support local firefighting initiatives.
• Angliss Hospital FTG Aux. received a grant to fund the provision of emergency hospital bags.

That’s more than $60,981 given back to our local community in 2019 alone!

For those of you who use Facebook please visit the Knox Community Bank Group page as they will be sharing weekly video footage featuring a Grant recipient talking about their Grant and what it will be used for!

– Knox Community Bank Group