By Mikayla van Loon
Having held a successful fundraising day for the Good Friday Appeal last year, Maroondah Volleyball has brought back its charitable tournament for another year.
Hoping to reach a total of $10,000 for the Royal Children’s Hospital, association secretary Catherine Gordon said there would be lots of gold coin donation activities for everyone, as well as some competitive volleyball.
“From team entries and sales on the day absolutely everything we raise goes back to the Good Friday Appeal,” she said.
With local craft stores setting up stalls, sausage sizzles, cake stands, Easter egg hunts and mini volleyball courts ready for children to learn some skills, whether coming to support a family member in the tournament or just stopping in, Ms Gordon said there would be heaps happening.
Building on the $8690 raised last year, the committee at Maroondah Volleyball wanted to increase the number of teams taking part in the three round tournament to 24.
“We wanted to grow a little bit on it this year. So as we’re a not-for-profit association one of our big things is to give back to the community wherever we can,” Ms Gordon said.
Because it was so popular last year, the committee has even expanded the number of Easter egg hunts that will happen throughout the day to four, so that more children can get involved.
Ms Gordon said the association has done other fundraising events for causes like breast cancer awareness but the Good Friday Appeal seems to touch many people.
“There’s quite a few families that have been touched by the Good Friday Appeal in one way or another so they want to give back to the charity.”
As the only volleyball association in the eastern suburbs, teams come from all over Maroondah and the Yarra Ranges but the Good Friday Appeal fundraiser has drawn people from Geelong, Gippsland and Melbourne.
“It’s not just our pocket of people that play within our local association, it’s people that have come from outside the community.”
Using the Royal Children’s Hospital herself and with a number of coaches and players who have also used the facilities, Ms Gordon said she would love for the event to become a yearly thing.
“We’ve got lots of people that it is obviously a place close to their hearts so it would be great if it was something that was just on everyone’s calendar and they knew that every year we were running this tournament.”
With still a few spots left to fill to make it to 24 teams, Ms Gordon said anyone interested in signing up a team would be welcome, as well as anyone who would like to volunteer on the day.
“If people want to get involved or want to volunteer, then there’s always opportunities for that. We are a community organisation and we are run by volunteers so the more help the better.”
The Good Friday Appeal Volleyball Tournament will be held on Friday 15 April from 9am to 4pm.
