By Mikayla van Loon
Monbulk RSL is joining with other local sub branches to raise funds for the Cowey-Selman Kokoda Award through a plant sale fundraiser.
The scholarship will send a Year 11 Yarra Ranges student to Papua New Guinea to do the trek, and Lilydale, Mount Evelyn and Monbulk RSL’s are hoping locals will support the fundraiser to do just that.
Mount Evelyn RSL secretary Anthony McAleer said Monbulk RSL are experienced in raising funds through plant sales and have had quite a lot of success.
“Monbulk RSL has previously run successful plant sales and they’ll normally do it at the front of the club room. So it was their idea and being up there in the hills with a lot of connections to plant growers and wholesalers, they were able to get this underway,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of local nurseries and plant growers and wholesalers donate the plants to be sold. So we’ve had some great support there.”
The plant sale will be held at the Lilydale Baptist Church on Saturday 26 February from 8am to 12.30pm, where people can look through a variety of plants, including fruit trees.
Mount Evelyn RSL will also be hosting a sausage sizzle for those looking to grab breakfast or lunch while they browse.
With a grant from Yarra Ranges Council and some sponsorships from local businesses, Mr McAleer said this event hopes to top up the current funds before assessing if more fundraising efforts are needed.
“If we fall short we’ll look at doing something else but if this is quite successful, we hope to do this as an annual event.”
Supporting the Cowey-Selman Award from the very beginning, Mr McAleer said Mount Evelyn RSL, along with the other sub branches, believed it was a great way for a young person to understand what happened during World War II.
“We wanted to give them a chance to visit the war memorials, battle sites and things like that,” he said.
“We’re hoping that will give the lucky student a better understanding of what the Kokoda campaign was like and especially connecting it with the fact that there were people from their own district who served in that campaign.
“It’s also a great way to, in a practical way, to pay tribute to local soldiers that served in that campaign and of course one that eventually lost their life during the war.”
Applications for the Award are still open to students and they can submit an essay or multimedia piece before 27 March to go into the selection process.
“Younger people today are very interested in our Anzac heritage and Kokoda is one of those campaigns that is talked about and taught at schools,” Mr McAleer said.
“So we’re certainly expecting it’s going to create a great interest and the fact that they’ll have a once in a lifetime opportunity to go and actually walk in the footsteps of those diggers, I think it’s a great opportunity.”
