EVERY year, the Bega Cheese Factory holds a corporate event to help raise money to put back into the community of the Bega Valley by donating to a local organisation.
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This year’s charity auction was hosted by well-known Australian comedian Mikey Robbins and raised $100,000, which was donated to members of Tulgeen Group on Monday.
“It means a huge amount to us,” Tulgeen Group CEO Pete Gorton said.
“We’ve had a lot of small support from the community over the years,” he said.
The charity auction has become a key component of the annual event, Bega Cheese executive chairman Barry Irvin said after presenting the cheque to Mr Gorton.
“We use this event as a reason to get them to all come together,” Mr Irvin said.
Customers, suppliers and colleagues from Malaysia, Japan, the United States, New Zealand and throughout Australia meet to network and discuss the goings on of the past 12 months.
“We invite them here for two days to showcase the Valley.
“The most important part is giving back to the local community,” Mr Irvin said.
Mr Gorton said the money will go a long way to further integrating Tulgeen into the wider community.
“We are celebrating our 40th year now and we are looking at becoming far more integrated into the community,” he said.
“We will be starting up the Friends of Tulgeen group and building into the wider community, and this contribution will also go towards the building of our respite facility for which we currently have a development application with council.
“It is significant in the financial sustainability of Tulgeen and we are also looking at expanding our solar generation facility.
“Our grant funding then can be used on our clients instead of on utility bills.”
“I am honoured and delighted to accept this very generous gesture on behalf of the Tulgeen community,” he said.
“It is heartening to know that the spirit of service and giving is alive and well in the Bega Valley in both a not for profit as well as in a listed company.”
Mr Irvin said that every year a short list of organisations is compiled by Bega Cheese staff who put together the event in their own time outside work hours.
“The way we look at this is that you have to give people opportunities regardless of their ability,” Mr Irvin said.
“We’ve got a genuine opportunity to make a difference and we lean on organisations that do that.”
Cornelius Moon from Tulgeen Group was present for the handover of the cheque and is excited about the opportunities it will bring the organisation, like the making of a movie clip for which production is now under way.
“Yeah I like it, I’ve been learning a lot and I’m really enjoying it,” he said of the project.
