I wish to respond to a Letter to the Editor, The Area News on June 15, signed by ‘Karen the Riverina Gardener’. As a result of this letter a few people are now assuming that Griffith City Council benefits from the Griffith Garden Festival. I can assure everyone this is not the case. The ratio of the division of money is correct with the garden owners receiving half of the funds raised, usually passing on to their chosen charity a percentage of what they have received. In fact, most give the charity 100 per cent of their share.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The half that Griffith Festival of Gardens receives goes towards organising next year's Spring Fest and Garden Festival.
The wonderful charities who play a huge part coming on board every year to man the gates, some providing morning/afternoon tea and lunch, also holding a raffle to raise money, do it with big smiles on their faces.
At the beginning of December the working group invite the garden owners, charities, our volunteer bus drivers and tour guides to a morning tea to present the cheques and a certificate of appreciation to show in a very small way our deepest gratitude and acknowledgment of the hard work they do for our community.
RELATED
To be able to organise this event the working group relies on the kind and ever-giving garden owners, some offer their gardens year in and year out, the volunteers who give their time and hard work and it is a reality that, as with any successful festival, it requires funds. This funding comes from our very generous business community in the form of sponsorship and the share of the garden entries.
With these funds we are able to secure the Festival Ambassador, print the program distributed to Visitors Information Centres all over Australia, advertising through multiple platforms, and equipment hire. It also goes towards purchasing shirts for the new garden owners, hiring of tables, chairs etc and entertainment for the Spring Fest Launch, the list goes on and on.
If it wasn't for the generosity of the garden owners and the numerous volunteers and sponsors, the working group wouldn't be able to hold a Festival that last year injected around $2.6 million into our economy.
I would like to give a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone involved, because of your kindness, generosity and hard work we can continue to hold this amazing event.
Rina Mercuri, Festival of Gardens Working Group Chairperson.