Locals gathered at the new venue, St Paul’s College Hall, for the annual Macleay Valley Coast Diabetes (MVCD) Dinner on Saturday night.
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A crowd of 300 people raised a massive record of $52,000 for locals in the Macleay Valley living with type 1 diabetes.
The funds were raised through raffle ticket sales, an auction and the community who dug deep on the night for the great cause.
The group is overwhelmed by the support from the community, MVCD president Scott Welsh applauded everyone who came on the night and made the event a success.
“We always appreciate any amount raised on the night but this amount is truly fantastic,” he said.
“These funds will help the group once again continue to support locals living with type 1 diabetes and the good thing about it is that it all stays local helping locals.”
The night was filled with fun and was a chance for the community to enjoy themselves while raising funds to help locals.
Special guest speaker on the night was local Dr David McDonald who addressed the guests with a speech that not only helped everyone understand what type 1 diabetes is, but also why it’s important that the community continues to support the charity and supply those with the technology available to help save lives.
MVCD secretary Sonya Murphy said the speech enlightened locals of the day-to-day life for people living with type 1 diabetes.
“When you hear speeches like this one from Dr McDonald, it really opens your eyes up to what type 1’s go through on a day to day bases and it’s so important that we continue to raise funds and support as many as we can,” she said.
As well as the $52,000 raised by the community, a further cheque from Lahey Construction for $40,000 was presented to the group on the night, raising the total fundraising number to a huge $92,000.
The $40,000 was raised through a corporate golf day in October. And MVCD was overwhelmed by the generous contribution from Lahey Construction.
Mr Welsh said the presentation of the cheque made the night even more special.
“It was definitely a special moment for the entire room of guest to witness and appreciate on the night which boosted the exciting evening of events even more,” he said.
MVCD would like to thank everyone who attended the night and donated to the group’s major fundraising event for 2018.
“There are so many to thank and we would just like to say without you all, this event wouldn’t be the success it is today or help support those living with type 1 diabetes the many ways that we can. This valley truly is amazing and we should be all so proud to call it home,” Ms Murphy said.
Next year will be the group’s 10 year anniversary of holding the fundraising event and the committee is already planning for it to be bigger and better than ever.
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