Moama Bowling Club Strengthens Local Community Connections

In the video, which you watch here, Moama Bowling Club’s Sales and Marketing Manager, George Santos, says the Club sees its community contributions as an investment in people and ideas that multiply far beyond the initial donation.

“We are very glad to support organisations that in turn support our community,” says George. 

“We look at what we do as seed funding — and when we produce a little bit of seed, they grow that and the community benefits many times over.”

This year, the Club is backing three organisations making a real difference: Echuca Neighbourhood House, Moama Girls Football Club and Boys to the Bush.

For Echuca Neighbourhood House, the Club’s partnership has been a lifeline. The organisation’s Sarah Peake says the support has kept their food bank service running at a time when demand has never been higher.

“Providing people with something as simple as food relieves their pressures and stresses just that tiny bit,” she says. “Our partnership with Moama Bowling Club — especially through the Nourishing Hope initiative — has been absolutely mammoth in helping us. We’ve received over $120,000, which is enormous for a not-for-profit like ours.”

For Kate Christie, coach of the Moama Under 14s Girls AFL team, the Club’s backing allowed her to launch a program giving young women a safe, confidence-building space on the field.

“When I went to the Club and explained why we needed this program, they were all for it,” Kate says.

“Some of these girls didn’t have the confidence to speak up before — now they’re out there leading and supporting each other. Without the Club, I’d hate to think what would happen to grassroots sport in our community.”

Meanwhile, Boys to the Bush, which mentors more than 25 boys each week, has also benefited from Moama Bowling Club’s support. Area Manager Andrew ‘Dicky’ Thompson says the partnership has helped reach more young men in need of guidance.

“What we do isn’t complex — we listen to the boys and give them our time,” Dicky says. 

“If we can prevent these young men from going down the wrong path and instead guide them towards their passions, we create better people and stronger communities. Moama Bowling Club jumped on board straight away when they heard what we were trying to achieve.”

For George, seeing the outcomes of these partnerships — from families receiving meals to girls winning premiership flags and boys finding employment — is what makes it all worthwhile.

“When outcomes are achieved and we see people in our community getting the help they need, that’s incredibly heartening,” he says. 

“It takes a community to make a community work — and that’s the truth.

“We need everyone on board to contribute to what we see as invaluable projects in our community.”