Muswellbrook Red Cross celebrates a century of helping the local community

Taking place at Eaton’s Hotel on Thursday, the charity organisation looked back upon all they’ve done for the community as well as what they could do next.

While most people associate Red Cross with being a blood bank, small community branches such as Muswellbrook’s are focused on much more.

They run several money raising and aid events throughout the year, ranging from a golf day to programs to help the region’s homeless.

Emergency relief is also among the members’ repertoire as they jump on board to support locals who have become victims of fire or floods, and do what they can to generate money for the Red Cross Australia when they launch relief projects throughout the country or overseas.

President of the Muswellbrook branch, Diana Keating, said they couldn’t possibly count the amount of people they help in the space of just 12 months.

“We meet a lot; I couldn’t put a number on it because we’re always meeting different people and trying to support them in one way or another,” she said.

Minutes secretary Doreen Scriven believes their longevity is also largely due to their commitment to helping all sorts of people.

“Our strength is our neutrality I think,” she said.

“We don’t judge people, we don’t say ‘oh you’re over there, so we won’t help you’ so in the end everyone is aware of what we do.”

Everyone at the celebration was thankful towards the community for all the support they’ve received along the way, with Mrs Keating admitting it would impossible without them.

She recalled a recent raffle they held in which tickets were sold for $1 apiece.

And, they raised more than $1000 with very few bulk buys, representing the huge amount of backing they have in the area.

Their undeniable desire to improve the lives of others, whether it be through the blood bank or other events, is clearly the reason they have survived so long, and will hopefully guide them towards more milestones in the future.