Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday, like so many Australians across the country, I volunteered to collect for the Red Shield Appeal in my community of Lindsay. I started my Red Shield Appeal volunteer collection career as a grade 7 student and collected for many years. Yesterday I was very proud to take my own children along to pass on what I think is a very worthwhile and valuable legacy.

The Lions Club of Emu Plains, in my electorate, coordinated the collection for our area on behalf of the Salvos, and I would like to thank all of those within the Lions Club who supported yesterday's event. Before we set off, we were joined by the managing director of three local McDonald's restaurants, Mr Dominic Meduri, who presented a generous cheque to my team to kick-start our collection. Along with another generous donation from Ben Dorrell, of the Lewers cafe gallery, my team contributed over $1,000 to the tally, which resulted in $7½ thousand, up 60 per cent on last year, coming from the Lions Club of Emu Plains.

As I have said all along in this place, I get to represent the best people as the member for Lindsay, and yesterday was just another example of that. Our community dug deep to support the people who are less well off and people who find themselves, sometimes through no fault of their own, needing the help of the Salvation Army. I would like to give a special shout out and a mention to all those people who gave up their time yesterday right across the country to support such a valuable and worthwhile cause, especially John Cromoa; Ian West; Jim Divine; Kate, Jack, David, Alan and Therrie; and all of the volunteers who came out in support of the Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal. Thank God for the Salvos, and thank God for all those people who came to support the Red Shield Appeal and those who generously donated.