Donations made to the Winton Fire and Emergency Services (Fenz) could not have come at a more important moment for the hard-working Southland branch.
Members of the Rural Contractors New Zealand (RCNZ) gave $10,000 to the Winton Volunteer Fire Brigade and Hato Hone St John’s ambulance at a gathering at the Midlands Rugby clubrooms on the morning of October 23.
The national body and emergency services were not to know the torrential rain and roaring winds which raged around them would trigger a state of emergency within hours of the donation.
RCNZ member Tharan Rule said the worsening weather that morning had made it difficult to co-ordinate attendance at the donation gathering but it was fantastic when they were finally able to hand over the cheque.
"The weather had caused a lot of havoc that morning but when we finally handed over the donations, we could see what kind of a difference it would make to them," Mr Rule said.
Winton St John had already planned to use their $5000 donation to go towards the purchase of a back-up generator, while the volunteer fire brigade was looking at using its $5000 to create a special archive display wall documenting its history.
The RCNZ Zone 4 group had raised the $10,000 by holding the John Stalker Memorial Golf Day at the Winton Golf Club this year for the benefit of the two emergency services.
Mr Rule thanked the many sponsors who had provided the prizes at the golf day auction.
