Giving back to the community

Naming Right Partner of the Mount Gambier Pioneers, Castec Rural Supplies, and the club have maintained their long standing partnership supporting suicide prevention for all Australians.

The Pioneers Basketball facilitated the 2024 Lifeline game in July in which the Pioneers men’s team wore yellow Lifeline branded uniforms.

The singlets were later auctioned off, with funds being donated to charity.

Castec Rural Supplies managing director Chris Castine and the Pioneers Basketball Club initiated the theme game in 2016 and, in this time have raised more than $25,000 for Lifeline through local donations and the charity singlet auction.

Lifeline is Australia’s leading suicide prevention service, in which the national charity provides all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24-hour support.

Lat month, the club and representatives of Castec Rural Supplies presented a cheque for the total of $7450 from this year’s singlet auction to representatives of the local Mount Gambier Lifeline branch.

“Each year, over one million Australians reach out to Lifeline for support,” Castine said. “This is an important organisation run by volunteers who do an amazing job, especially in regional Australia where a lot of their calls come from.

“If we can help just that little bit here in the Limestone Coast and Western Victoria, so that there are enough volunteers to take the calls, then no person has to face their darkest moments alone.

“The Pioneers have been a great team to accompany with getting our and Lifeline’s message out there, and we thank them very much for what they also do in our community”.

Castec Rural Supplies have supported the Pioneers as naming right partner of the club’s men’s program since 2010.

Pioneers Club president Tom Kosch said without their naming right and major partners supporting the club, they would not be able to compete at the level that we do”

“The support that Chris and the Castine family have been extremely loyal to our basketball club over the journey and to be able to support them with the Lifeline game has been extremely valuable to both the community and our club,” he said.