Club Taree recently rewarded the work of volunteers to create a garden that cultivated community as well as produce, by choosing to gift more than $800 worth of tools and equipment.

Shovels, garden forks, and a leaf blower formed part of the gift to the garden, which is set up in the grounds of Taree PCYC in Commerce Street, Taree. It was a feature of the Club Taree Community Team fifth anniversary celebrations that saw $5297 distributed across six local organisations.

The five other recipients of the Club Taree Community Team Community Grants were:

Paul Allan is Club Taree's brand and communication manager and leader of the Club Taree Community Team.

"We were completely overwhelmed with the amount of community interest in these grants, in total we received in excess of 80 applications.

"It was refreshing to read about all the positive community organisations, projects and groups from all over the Manning Valley, and our community is a much better place because of their individual passions and commitments.

"While we would love to have been able to help everyone who made an application, those who were successful were those who met the ideals of the grants, which was to build a courageous, creative, capable, inspiring and stronger community. We also aligned the recipients with the values of the Club Taree Community Team".

The interest in the Club Taree Community Team Community Grants during 2019 has the team considering whether the grants will be an annual initiative.

"Every day in our community there are organisations that need help, assistance and support. We love the concept of the grants, where immediate and practical solutions are offered of a feel good nature, with the aim of offering instant support. The grants certainly drew interest from all aspects of our community, which in turn highlights how much more help our community could benefit from."

The Club Taree Community Team's fifth anniversary year runs from May 2019 through to May 2020. Since its inception in 2015 the Club Taree Community Team has raised a total of $339,384.98 and contributed 6518 hours to the Manning Valley community.

The Club Taree Community Team's signature event, le Tour de Taree is also celebrating its fifth anniversary this year.

During July the team will collectively ride 3460km to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Northern NSW (RMHCNNSW). To date over the last four years this event has seen the team ride more than 15,000km and raise $96,596.14 for RMHCNNSW.

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