Country Education Foundation of Canowindra (CEF Canowindra) will be able to make even more of a difference to local students next year thanks to raising thousands of dollars at its Melbourne Cup luncheon fundraiser.
With most tickets being pre-sold during September and October, much of the funds will be doubled too, thanks to the Country Education Foundation of Australia’s (CEF) National Matched Giving campaign which ran in September and October.
The luncheon was held on Tuesday 7th November, with around 100 people turning out at ‘The Homestead’ function marquee at ‘Riverside’, a property east of Canowindra.
Guests enjoyed an afternoon of finger food, lunch, dessert, drinks, a raffle, auction, fashions on the field, and of course watching the “race that stops the nation”.
CEF Canowindra committee member, Peter Stacey, said the event was expected to raise several thousand dollars, with every cent going towards its 2024 local grants program.
“People like to get out and be together. I think with Covid over the last couple of years, everyone has been hanging around for a good event to come to, and I think that helped us get the great numbers that we did,” he said.
“We try to have events every year and change them. We’ve had concerts and film festivals in the past. We put events on in town to raise money and bring people together.”
CEF is a national for-purpose, community-driven charity that helps rural and regional youth aged between 16 and 25 access post-school education, training and employment through grants, scholarships, support services and resources.
It’s Matched Giving campaign was supported by a private philanthropic organisation, with all funds raised by each local foundation in its network matched dollar for dollar, capped at $5,000 per local foundation.