An achievement built on its immediate and extensive response to rapidly changing its operating model and combining that with a community outreach program that saw 20,000 serves of homemade soup (prepared by its chefs); along with 1500 loaves of fresh bread, 2400 litres of milk and 2000 disposable face masks given to the local community’s most vulnerable through Echuca Neighbourhood House and Moama Local Aboriginal Land Care.
MBC sales and marketing manager George Santos said while the pandemic delivered some of the most challenging times in the club’s history, it also saw it achieve some of its most inspiring results.
He said the club was forced to close for 10 weeks between March and May and then operated at a reduced capacity for much of the year, as lengthy border closures (the first in 100 years) decimated the region’s tourism industry.
“During our temporary closure, we embraced new ways of servicing our community and providing support in a range of areas where we saw the greatest need,” George said.
“That included the donated supplies listed above, along with our chefs cooking 4200 curries for the community at a discounted rate, and hosting 16 live cooking shows on Facebook to help those who could no longer visit us in person to experience authentic, nourishing meals at home.
“To stay connected with our bowling members we introduced ‘5 Minutes With Zane’ — a series of live bowls skills, tips and tactics with The Greens Sports Venue manager Zane Mikin-Laurie, for people to practise at home.”
The club’s web page also became one of the go-to sites during the worst of the crisis after it set up a live traffic camera from its roof to help local residents manage traffic congestion on the Echuca-Moama bridge as a result of the border closure.
George said it also launched its ‘Brew4U’ initiative: a micro campaign “to spread kindness and goodwill throughout the community”, by helping to give small businesses a boost.
He said Brew4U was a pre-paid hot beverage program designed to help brighten the day of people who may have been struggling financially.
MBC kick-started the program by paying for 50 coffees in 20 participating cafés throughout Echuca-Moama.
“The idea was for people who were in a position to do so, to pay that kindness forward and purchase an extra coffee or two the next time they visited their favorite café, and to warm someone’s heart with a brew,” he added.
But the club’s largesse did not stop there — it still managed to donate more than $670,000 to the twin town communities through club grants, and in the health and wellbeing space provided a $36,000 car for the Girls Night Out charity, which supports cancer patients in the community to fight the hidden costs of cancer.
In between some of its more public and high-profile interactions, the club continued to invest in Echuca Regional Health in 2020, with more than $50,000 for new equipment, and worked closely with the Horizon Committee to support its ongoing fundraising endeavours in the cancer space.
George said while many communities had been hit hard by COVID-19, the impact in Echuca-Moama and other dual Murray River communities was significant.
He said the single-lane bridge that connects the communities was closed by NSW for 138 days between July and November, re-opened for four weeks, Victoria closed it for another six weeks, and it finally reopened again on January 30.
Then it was closed again for five days in mid-February.
“In total, the single bridge connecting us was manned by border patrols for six months — a time of frustration, despair and confusion for our community,” George said.
“Local residents were unable to access workplaces, schools and essential services. Some businesses were forced to close their doors, and the impacts on service delivery by organisations including hospitals and disability service providers was devastating,” he said.
“With no tourists in town, and many townsfolk themselves unable to support their local businesses, the economic impacts have been profound and crushing.
“It was crucially important to our club that we do all within our power to support our community during this time of great need and challenge, and to help unite our twin towns, which had been physically separated for the first time in living memory.
“Our community assistance package rolled out during 2020 was a crisis response. It helped soften the immediate blow of COVID-related pressures for our most vulnerable and was gratefully received by our community. Our spirits were lifted time and again throughout the year by messages of thanks and support from so many.
“But this support is just the beginning. We’re in this for the long run.”
The awards will be announced in Sydney on May 20.
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