The Mudgee Rescue Squad saw the fruits of its campaign on Tuesday when the new truck arrived in the depot driveway.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After a few drives and taking the time to admire it, the truck was off to Complete Steel for work to start on the new back.
The squad hopes to have the new vehicle on the road by mid-March.
Mudgee Rescue Squad President Geoff Hawes said, “it’s very exciting to see the culmination of a year’s fundraising”.
“We’d like to say thank you very much to the people of Mudgee and the district and all of the organisations that have been associated with the fundraising.”
He said the group hadn’t expected to raise the money and take delivery of the new truck less than a year after the fundraising began.
“We were looking at about June this year before we would even be close,” he said.
The campaign was brought to light in February 2012 when the Rotary Club of Mudgee held a meeting to allow community groups to share ideas and discuss possible projects.
Members of the Squad went along and explained that their current truck, ‘Rescue 1 vehicle’, was over 27 years old and they would like some assistance to upgrade.
The Rescue Squad is required to be self-reliant and unlike other emergency services doesn’t receive government funding.
At the meeting, representatives from Club Mudgee agreed to direct the proceeds of their coming events to the Squad’s campaign, and throughout 2012 they donated from outdoor events, concerts, and racedays.
In another coup, Mudgee High School’s Year 12 of 2012 chose the Squad’s campaign as the beneficiary of their fundraising during their final year of school.
The students raised around $11,000 from the annual Rainbow Day celebrations and even continued fundraising up until their HSC exams at events such as A Day On The Green.
The end result was a cheque for $22,169.35 that they handed over to the Squad at the students’ formal in November.
When the campaign was chosen as one of the causes that the Property Shop’s annual Tradies Night would support, nobody expected what happened next.
The charity evening raised over $22,000, which was split between the Squad and the Mudgee District Hospital Maternity Ward.
These were combined with donations of thousands of dollars from businesses, service clubs, collection tins and Rescue Squad members getting out shaking the bucket, which all helped reel in their target.
The Squad plans to put together an honour board at their depot listing the contributors to the new truck campaign