By Parker McKenzie
Knox CFA brigades raised over $26,000 in cash for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, as a part of a $1.6 million raised by the organisation.
Group Officer of Knox Fire Brigades Group Peter Shaw AFSM said the total will be higher than the $26,352.50 because of the widespread use of EFTPOS terminals this year.
“I don’t what the balance is yet, but I’d suggest it is significantly more,” he said.
“We had some people that did the intersections and shopping centres in Boronia in particular the day before on Thursday night and then the rest was collected on Friday itself.”
He while the total amount of cash was down compared to the previous year, it will potentially be higher once the final figure is calculated.
“We trialled it last year with a couple of places, but we had more of it this year with a significantly increased amount of payments,” Mr Shaw said.
“We’ve done the appeal in this area for as long as I can remember — 40 plus years — and we get great engagement from all the brigades around Knox and Montrose.”
The overall amount raised for the 2023 Good Friday Appeal was $23,061,320, which was a record for the fundraising event.
Mr Shaw said each individual brigade does other fundraising efforts throughout the year, but the Good Friday Appeal is when they all come together for a common cause.
“It’s on a far less scale throughout the year than this,” he said.
“It just invokes the spirit of community and volunteerism in Knox, something we’ve had for a long time in this area and hope to keep going with.”
The Knox Fire Brigades Group consists of eight fire brigades: Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Montrose, Rowville, Scoresby, The Basin and Upper Ferntree Gully.
The CFA has raised more than $35 million for the Good Friday Appeal since 1951 through volunteer efforts.
