The Yenda community has rallied behind 8-year-old Jackson Dunn, and with their combined efforts they managed to win $200,000 to build a skatepark through the My Community Project fund.
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Voters in the electorate of Murray got to decide which of 35 community projects would be worthy of getting a slice of state government funding, and in the end Yenda and Griffith walked away with the entire pie.
Two projects were successfully funded, the first being the Yenda skatepark project that was thought up by Jackson and enthusiastically backed by the Yenda community.
Jackson said everyone at Yenda Public School was abuzz at the news that they would soon be getting a skatepark.
"My schoolmates keep asking me about it," he said.
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Jackson's dad David Dunn said he was proud of his son for taking the initiative and writing the petition that started this whole project in the first place.
"Most 8-year-olds are happy to run around and play, but Jackson put out a petition out to all the businesses, got people to sign them, and then it went a bit further," Mr Dunn said.
Now that they've won the grant funding, they've got a timeframe of 12 months to get the skatepark built.
The second winner of My Community Project was Griffith Can Assist, which won $46,000 to replace "Betsy" the van.
Betsy was a ramshackle 34-year-old van that had served Can Assist faithfully for over 10 years before sputtering its last and dying one day.
Bill Alexander was a volunteer who drove Betsy for Meals on Wheels back in the day, and he was the one who rallied the Griffith community to help get Can Assist another van.
"Betsy has done a lot of work," Mr Alexander said.
The new van will be used for Can Assist's various fundraising events, which raise money to help locals battling with cancer.
Griffith Can Assist president Olga Forner said she was grateful to the community, which never fails to rally together for a good cause.
"We want to thank the people who voted to support us," Mrs Forner said. "It's a great comfort knowing we have the community behind us to help support our cancer affected families."
Mrs Forner said the Can Assist committee hasn't decided on what they'll name the new van, but they're open to suggestions.
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Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
