MEMBERS of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Ballarat Sub-Branch gave a collective gasp with the announcement of a sizeable donation during their annual Christmas dinner.<\/p>\n
The news came on Sunday afternoon at the Golf House Hotel where representatives of the Lillingston Charitable Trust presented the group of about 70 people with $150,000.<\/p>\n
Sub-Branch secretary Gordon Hunt said the cash will service veterans and their families in Ballarat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s about 5000 veterans in Ballarat according to the Department of Veterans Affairs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funds will go into a welfare account and used for veterans specifically to make them comfortable. We\u2019re at that age now where everyone\u2019s getting quite old.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe donation means a lot to us but we\u2019re finite. We\u2019re going to run out of Vietnam veterans one day so we\u2019ll have to figure where the money will go at some point, but it\u2019ll be another returned service organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
VVAA was established in the late 1970s with the aim of delivering welfare, advocacy, and support services for servicepeople and families involved in the titular war.<\/p>\n
The Ballarat Sub-Branch currently has 82 active members and more than 100 people registered.<\/p>\n
The trust supports causes in the name of Irene and Les Lillingston, with the former being one of the \u2018Lucas girls\u2019 who helped establish the Arch of Victory and Avenue of Honour, and the latter having served in World War Two.<\/p>\n
Morgan Murphy was one of two Lillingston Charitable trustees who presented the funds and said VVAA was an ideal recipient for the money given the founder\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the spirit of the way they lived, we believe the association is very deserving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLes was a Rat of Tobruk and Irene worked at the Lucas factory. Irene would have had an appreciation of having to manage someone who\u2019d come back from conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir lives were dedicated to community and once Les died, Irene particularly spent a lot of time endeavouring to support the commemoration of people who were involved in conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MEMBERS of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Ballarat Sub-Branch gave a collective gasp with the announcement of a sizeable donation during their annual Christmas dinner. The news came on Sunday afternoon at the Golf House Hotel where representatives of the Lillingston Charitable Trust presented the group of about 70 people with $150,000. Sub-Branch secretary […]<\/p>\n