THIS was before the time caravan parks had movie nights by the swimming pool.
The cords were so precarious, the whole pool would have blown up.
And there were no lights anyway, so we would have been frying our marshmallows in the dark.
Aunty Ethel would have been worried about stepping on a poor old tree frog, in the days when tree frogs outnumbered the cane toads.
Forgive my reminisce, but there’s a point to all this.
I’m not one for chanting the “good old days” phrase because there are plenty of things that are better now.
But these were days when a community truly bonded.
Every evening in a community-type hall, families took blankets and sat around a bowl of lollies.
We’d all play “hoy”, a game similar to bingo but played with a deck of cards.
Shuffle your deck, lay out a number in front of you, and wait for the caller to sing out a number.
First to turn all their cards over won a modest prize. I recall taking home a block of chocolate one night.
Other nights, even as kids, we’d be allowed to participate in a cent sale.
We’d be worried now about the influence it was having on children, and the nurturing of gambling behaviour.
I personally came away not as a gambler, but as someone who cares about the important role “a good time” can have when fundraising for a good cause.
The van park would gather a bunch of prizes from local businesses and spread them out over a few nights during the school holidays.
They’d choose a local organisation they thought needed help, and Bob as they say, was our collective uncle.
With some interest, I read about Logan City Council’s well-intended efforts to start a charity fund in 2017.
Someone must have been enthused by the thought that the community might be able to do a better job than public servants when it came to filling the coffers of not-for-profit organisations.
A noble cause, and a noble thought.
Call in the volunteers, they said. They’ll do our jobs better than us. And they’ll care.
They probably had a point.
It would seem however, that the message got a little lost in translation.
According to the mayor, the fundraising group’s job was to raise money. Council would add money to the kitty, and local charities would benefit.
The problem is, local charities need tens of thousands of dollars to do their work.
When you think that a gala ball might raise $10,000 after months of preparation by volunteers, you see the velocity of the mission.
Hundreds of volunteer hours for a small return.
Council’s concern is that bureaucrats aren’t very good at making money. But they’re pretty good at handing it out, so why delegate that duty to a committee?
Or should I be so bold as to ask, why delegate the kudos?
Hoy night was all about equal opportunity for anyone who put their hand up for help.
Local charities took turns, and when their name rose to the top of the list, they’d get a visit from the van park owner who’d give them a cheque for $50.
I know that for a fact because they had one of those big cheques done up with a chalk board nailed to the bit where they’d put the name of the recipient.
Sure, the van park owner never missed an opportunity for publicity. But they earned it.
Charities have always relied heavily on governments to fund their survival. But there will always be groups in our communities who see fit to do good.
They’ll continue to do it, without asking for thanks. Without the big cheques. They’ll do it from the goodness of their heart, and they’re the ones who’ll truly earn our respect.
As for charities, they too deserve kudos. For what they do to help their own communities, but for overcoming the mountain of paperwork they need in order to gain government support.
Hey Wanda, there’s a thing called “grocery bingo” in the public notice section. Sounds like fun. Fancy popping along?
Charities deserve our utmost respect
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