Record donation for Christmas Appeal

THE 3BA Christmas Appeal has received its largest single donation ever this week, provided by the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat.

The $50,000 bundle has been evenly distributed to the Appeal’s local beneficiary agencies and charities, Uniting Vic. Tas, Anglicare, St Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army, who are working to support thousands of local families in need of emergency relief this Christmas.

Catholic Diocese of Ballarat business manager Andrew Jirik said the financial support has come from the Ballarat Catholic Diocese Foundation.

“Every year we have money we can grant, but a lot of that activity is driven by parishes which have been closed for most of this year,” he said.

“With JobKeeper ending, there’s an increased demand. We put a bit of money aside from the Foundation last year, which meant this year we could do something we don’t normally do.

“The beauty of the 3BA Christmas Appeal is that their reach is broader than donating directly to one charity… and they can get it to people who actually need the help now.”

3BA general manager John Fitzgibbon said all four charities received their equal payments from the Diocese on Tuesday morning.

“This came out of the blue, and we’re blown away. The funds are already on the ground being used,” he said.

“The Diocese’s desire to help as many people as possible across the entire community is to be commended, and that’s what the spirit of Christmas is all about.”