RESIDENTS from across Palm Lake Resort Tea Gardens pitched in to donate a significant sum to the local Free Clinic Bus charity, presented at a special Good Friday get-together in the Promenade on Friday, 18 April.
The donated funds, totalling $2030, were raised through a volunteer effort led by members of the Palm Lake Workshop in the village, who cleared out the garage of a recently-departed resident, Paul Greig.
“Workshop volunteers found a bunch of beautiful models, including some by Gordon Rowe, and opted to sell them to Palm Lake residents, saying that they would donate the proceeds to a local cause, which we chose to be the Free Clinic Bus,” Workshop President Bob Peady told NOTA.
“It is a donation on behalf of Palm Lake Resort Tea Gardens residents and the Workshop, coordinated by the workshop and with permission of the Greig family.
“Inside Mr Greig’s garage we found model ships, some useful items for the workshop, and decided to sell some things within the village and make a donation along with the sale of Gordon Rowe’s stage coach.”
The funds were added to by the proceeds of a recent sale to a Palm Lakes resident of one of Gordon Rowe’s beautiful models of a stage coach.
Jan Peeters, who accepted the donation on behalf of the Free Clinic Bus, said there are several volunteer drivers for the service among the Palm Lake Resort residents.
“Thank you very much to the residents for this donation and support, we have 22 drivers, 10 of whom are actually residents of Palm Lake, and one of our four coordinators is also a resident in the resort,” explained Jan.
“The Free Clinic Bus is a charity, which runs 100 percent on donations, volunteer drivers and coordinators, and helps patients in Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest, Pindimar, Bundabah, Karuah, and North Arm Cove, to get to medical appointments in Maitland or Newcastle.
“Now, we have three drivers who are moving on due to illness, and we need more volunteer drivers.”
Despite the name, the ‘Free Clinic Bus’ is not actually a bus, but a Hyundai iMax van, and requires no special licence to operate.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
