THERE will be no Christmas party for workers at Wodonga car dealership McRae Motors this year.
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But don’t feel sorry for the staff, they’ve decided they would rather have the $10,000 earmarked for the bash go towards the men of Wodonga.
Then inspired by that generosity, the directors of the Melbourne Road business opted to fork out another $10,000 to Wodonga Men’s Shed’s fundraising to build a new base.
The kindness has lifted shed co-founder Ken Farrar.
“This means so much, it’s blown me away,” he said.
“We’ve had a fund-raising appeal for our building project and Wodonga Council has provided a lease for the site for our purpose-built shed, this will give us the funds to make it possible.
“We were hoping for something like $5000, which would’ve been wonderful.
“But a donation like this has just been a tremendous boost to the spirit of everyone here; it’s hard yakka trying to raise funds.”
The Men’s Shed is aiming to raise $230,000 to build a centre at Jamieson Court to replace its cramped quarters at a house in Emerald Avenue it has occupied since 2009.
Mr Farrar said it was hoped work on prefabricated structure could begin in January and be completed by mid-2017.
It will house a kitchen, workshop, office, meeting room and library.
McRae Motors sales manager Gary Dundas said Men’s Shed members had assisted in sausage sizzles at the caryard.
“A few staff got wind they were looking for money and it was to build a shed and the staff came up with the idea that ‘let’s just give up our Christmas party and help out the greater cause’,” Mr Dundas said.
“The directors thought it was such a good thing and were thinking of spending $10,000 on the Christmas Party, so they decided to match that and make it $20,000.
“This is something that everyone is happy to do.
“You give up one night and these guys get a lifetime of benefit out of being able to complete their shed.”
The 70 staff switch venues for the Christmas party each year.
“I’ve been with the company 30-odd years and we’ve always had a big Christmas party and the company is really kind,” Mr Dundas said.
The Men’s Shed recently received $60,000 from the Victorian Government’s Department of Human Services.
Mr Farrar said 60 members aged from 60 to 90 used the shed with their backgrounds ranging from truck drivers to teachers as well as pharmacy and accountancy.