Kyabram Chaplaincy Dinner

The Kyabram community voted with its wallets in support of the Kyabram P-12 chaplaincy program’s annual fundraising dinner, with $30,000 raised – and climbing.

And chaplain Liz Spicer says donations to the vital work done right through the school – and the wider community – are still being received (see details at the end of the story).

Liz says the evening was “exactly what you expect in Kyabram, which is why we are so blessed to have a town that pulls together in the community to support students and staff and their families”.

She says while a presentation about his recent trek along the Kokoda Trail from The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, was a highlight of the dinner, so was a very competitive table of the school’s teachers.

“After Peter spoke we ran a trivia quiz on the Kokoda campaign and there is no doubt the teachers felt the pressure to be the ones with all the answers – and they had plenty of them,” Liz laughs.

“But they didn’t do wo well with the lucky seat prizes,” she added.

“But the real message from the evening was nothing is obviously too hard for the Ky community – and its churches.

“If there is a need in the school, or if I need something for someone, it is given, whether it be financial help or resources of any kind.

“That is an asset and a resource without comparison and it makes it an honour for me to serve the school and community and I cannot thank them all enough for the support they have always extended this service.”

Korus Connect’s Richard Kolega, who also spoke at the dinner, added: “Not every school is supported to the extent Kyabram is, it stands alone in the massive contributions it enjoys from its community, and much of that is due to the hard work and networking from Liz and the volunteers working with her to stage an evening such as this”.

New primary school chaplain David Czech reported how much he has been enjoying his role since joining the school and he has “loved the opportunity to service it and its community”.

Guest Jan Prior described the evening as “enjoyable and informative”, adding “it was also humbling after hearing Peter Walsh’s stories about the Diggers and what they went through for us”.

“The support the school’s chaplaincy program also receives from evenings such as this, from the people here and those who might not have been able to be here tonight but who still donated, is equally humbling from a grassroots community aspect,” Jan added.

Liz says the chaplaincy committee put on the evening – and they were all volunteers – and she added it was a huge task for the team.

She says as the program’s major annual fundraiser, the Chaplaincy Dinner is always under to pressure to deliver.

“Imagine the stress levels in planning a big wedding, then multiply by any number you like (above 10) and you begin to get some idea of just how big a challenge this is each year – this was our 22nd annual event – so what an amazing effort they put in,” Liz says.

“In a poignant moment during the dinner, in honour of late chaplaincy treasurer Cam, Rae Thomson donated beautiful framed photographs as gifts for speakers,” she added.

“Peter’s talk about his own physical and mental challenges on the trek, and the triumph shared by the whole group when they reached the end of six very tough days, was quite inspiring and was a huge success.

“He has had Achilles tendon surgery since returning but is now mostly out of his moon boot and on the long road to rehab and recovery, but none of that has dimmed his passion for his new project, of helping send students there each year from within his electorate.”

If you are unable to attend but would like to support the vital chaplaincy work at Kyabram P-12, you can donate direct to: 

Kyabram Chaplaincy Committee

BSB 633 000

Account number 110 323 185

Pictured above (l-r) David Czech (Primary Chaplin), Richard Kolega (Korus Connect), Billy Barnes (Years P-6 Assistant Principal) The Honourable Peter Walsh MP, Liz Spicer (Chaplain), Marina Walsh (Acting Campus Principal), and David Lloyd (President Chaplaincy Committee).