Echuca Lions president Laurie Stewart has not quited sorted through all the gold coins when we made contact with him on Boxing Day, but he expected the club’s Illawarra Dve fund raising event to again “hit the mark”.
“I haven’t quite completed the full count yet, although in the first three nights we raised more than $2000,” Mr Stewart said.
“I don’t know for sure, but I’d be very surprised if we didn’t get close to that doubling that figure on Christmas Eve.”
The Lions club volunteers, who numbered about 20 this year, spent four nights leading up to Christmas at the end of the street collecting donations from people who walked, drove, cycled, scooted or jogged up and down the brightly lit street.
“We raised $1800 the year before on the last night and last week it was as busy, if not busier, as last year,” he said.
Mr Stewart was among about six Lions that spent the lead up to Christmas stationed at the entrance to the street.
He acknowledged the work of John Simson, who he said was the key figure in organising the event, and Geoff Crossman, another of the major forces behind the fundraising.
“We really need to thank Wayne Norwood from First National, who was again prepared to help us out with the the signage,” Mr Stewart said.