By Mikayla van Loon
In the gift that keeps on giving, the Rotary Club of Lilydale has made its final handover of donated presents to a community organisation.
On Wednesday 13 December, Wishing Tree organisers Gerry and Anne Van Horick delivered half of the close to 1300 gifts to Proactive Policing Unit Leading Senior Constable Luke Egginton.
With them, they also handed over $1100 in vouchers to be distributed among teens in the Yarra Ranges.
LSC Egginton said his priority was delivering the gifts to local organisations, like church groups, Boorndawan Willam Aboriginal Healing Centre, Anglicare and even some holiday or caravan parks who may have permanent residents.
“It’s amazing when you get there and just see the look on everyone’s face and you just want to keep giving more,” he said.
The rest of the gifts and vouchers will be distributed among school students through the wellbeing coordinators across the district.
With more presents still trickling in via the donation boxes placed at businesses across the shire, Anne said herself and Gerry will also distribute the remaining gifts to organisations like the Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Service in Belgrave.
“We’ve got leftovers to go to other places and we’ve just kept it all within the Yarra Ranges, that’s where we’ve concentrated on this year,”Anne said.
“Because that was a big thing for people who were donating, some people donated because it was for the local area and they knew it was going to go to the local area.”
The only items not staying local were some loose school supplies, like pens and pencils, which Gerry said will be sent to students supported by Rotary clubs in East Timor.
Not expecting to have received the number of gifts they did this year, given the challenging financial times, Anne said “people have just been overgenerous”.
“It’s just been wonderful. It’s a feel-good project, so everybody wants to feel good,” she said.
Having not been able to achieve what they did without the support of the community and the 30 businesses across the Yarra Ranges but also extending to Croydon, Bayswater, Boronia, Emerald and Wantirna, Gerry and Anne couldn’t have been more grateful.
“It’s a funny project, it’s just grown legs of its own,” Gerry said.
“We’re just lucky,” Anne said.
