It’s been 51 years since Deniliquin and district started officially raising funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
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The local effort was established by the Deniliquin RSL Club, and has since passed to an ever dwindling committee of volunteers who toil away with the club’s support.
Involved for each one of those 51 years has been Fay Mills.
Although Fay says it’s only 50, because she refuses to count that one year she could not physically be there to help on Good Friday itself.
Fay was an employee at the Deni RSL when the local charity initiative was launched.
She and other staff members were tasked with selling tickets for the inaugural raffle, which remains part of the fundraising format today.
Fay ended her employment with the club about 10 years later, but by then she was well and truly committed to her RCH role and continued on with it.
Fay said as she has never had children herself she’s never had any need to utilise the RCH.
She’s also never managed to visit the hospital she has supported for five decades.
But knowing it is a vital service for so many district families is enough for her to keep donating her time.
Fay later became the Deniliquin RCH Good Friday Appeal coordinator.
“It (the fundraising effort) was started by the Returned Servicemen’s League, and I distinctly remember working with Mark Perrin and Colin Dixon and others,” Fay said.
“In those early years Frank Davies and I would sell at the caravan park (McLean Beach) - there was only one here then.
“We would capitalise on the visitors, and we would also sell tickets at the club.
“The prizes would be valued at about $1000, which was a lot then.
“We originally only had one major prize, like a holiday or something, but over the years that changed and the local electrical stores would donate the prizes.
“Then people just started donating prizes, so we got more and more but they were smaller items.”
It was in 1974 that the tin rattling side of the fundraising effort began, after Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal director Jeff Crouch visited the then new Deniliquin RSL Club.
“That’s how we got the collection tins, and in those days the Scouts - under Ray Eames - would collect in north Deniliquin and local families would collect across the rest of the town.
“Of course in those days going away camping for Easter was quite uncommon.
“Many of us would spend the whole of Good Friday at the club counting - right down to the one cent pieces - until after the raffle that evening.
“I missed only one year in the 1970s due to illness, so I don’t count that one (among my years of service).”
Fay said while there was a lot of work in organising, selling and counting, she only remembers the “fun”.
“When I was still at the club, all the staff and the club patrons got involved.
“It was a really big deal, and the kids would come in with their tins.
“I am grateful that even after I left the club, they allowed me to keep running the appeal from there.”
After leaving the club in the early 1980s, Fay started her own business selling wool and Darrel Lea products.
Located next to Geoff Riley’s menswear shop, Geoff’s employee and community legend Sonya Rapley would help her on the raffle ticket selling stand out the front of the shop each year.
And so started Sonya’s long association with the appeal, with Geoff joining in after his retirement too.
Fay said other long term volunteers have included her mother June Mitchell (since about 1983) and Val Kairl (about 30 years).
Fay’s sister Lorraine has also been an invaluable volunteer since her return to Deniliquin in 2008.
“There are many others who have also assisted over the years, and I thank every one of them,” Fay said.
But with volunteers now waning, and so many individual RCH fundraisers taking part separately to the town initiative, Fay said it might be time for a new wave of volunteers to take the fundraiser in a new direction.
Fay intends to step back from organising the raffle after this year, but wants to remain involved in local fundraising.
She said she would also be willing to mentor anyone who might like to take the coordination role on board.
“I am hoping there are some young ones, maybe some local organisations, who can take it on,” Fay said.
“I am happy to remain involved for as long as I am needed though.
“Whoever does take it on can continue with the current format, or they might like to do something completely different.”
This year is the first time all fundraising for the RCH has gone online, which Fay said means anything collected from the 2710 postcode area would contribute to a combined Deniliquin total for the first time.
As always, a raffle is being conducted at the Deniliquin RSL Club on the evening of Good Friday.
There are 26 prizes up for grabs - mostly home wares and linens - and tickets are being sold from stands at both Deniliquin supermarkets and outside Deniliquin Newsagency.
Tickets will also be sold at the Deni RSL on Good Friday.
A small but dedicated team of tin rattlers will also be out and about on Good Friday, and more are welcome to head along to the RSL Club from 9am on the day to lend a hand.
Deniliquin’s NSW Fire + Rescue will also be collecting at the local caravan parks on Good Friday as is now tradition, and of course Fay said online donations are also gratefully accepted.
Two other fundraising pages have been registered under the Deniliquin umbrella.
There is the Wild Heart Accessories RCH earring fundraiser being run by primary school-aged entrepreneurs Isabella and Grace Sommerfeld, and a donation page under the Conargo & District Easter Campdraft.
To contribute to the Deniliquin fundraising tally, go to https://fundraise.goodfridayappeal.com.au/fundraisers/Deniliquin.
If you wish to donate to the Wildheart or Campdraft fundraisers specifically, scroll to the bottom of the page.
Senior journalist