The Junee Poker Run, which ran earlier in February, has now handed its yearly donation (a total of $30,000) to Can Assist at the Junee Ex-Services Club recently.
The funds go directly to Can Assist Junee, providing support to residents undergoing cancer treatment – a great result for such an amazing day.
Other donations were also presented to the Junee Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW Junee, the Junee Volunteer Rescue Association and the Junee Scouts.
This is the second-largest sum ever presented to Can Assist by the Poker Run committee.
President of Junee Can Assist, Fiona Rynehart, said she couldn’t believe how the team had been able to pull it off every year.
“I was stunned again. I cannot believe how many people are going to help. It is just amazing. It just sends chills down your spine. It is well worth what we do on the day, I can tell you,” she said.
“It still stuns me that they can raise that kind of money. How they do it and still give money to other organisations is also mind-boggling.
“The Scouts came on this year, too. It is truly amazing how much of the community the Poker Run actually reaches.”
Emma Phillips (the Junee Can Assist CEO from Sydney), who was doing her farewell talk about her retirement, did a tour from Narrandera to Junee to help at the Poker Run.
“I went, oh, my gosh, this is so good, that’s amazing,” said Fiona.
“[Emma] was absolutely gobsmacked. She went and did breakfast up at the Showground, and then she said, look, I’ve got to get back to Sydney this afternoon, but she said I’d like to go up to Tumut for lunch. She came up there, helped us set up, and then she fed those 460 people in 44 minutes. She helped us do all that, and she just said, ‘I cannot believe that it just goes so smoothly’.”
Photographs from the day have since been sent to the head office to look at.
“It was just such an amazing day and an amazing donation that they’ve given us, and I’m sure everyone’s already looking forward to the next one,” she said.
“We will have a debrief in May, and we are going to look at different ways we can do things differently again, just so we can keep changing it up every year so it’s not the same thing all the time.
“It’s always changing, always evolving.
“Yes, it is a lot of money, but in saying that, it will help a lot of people.”
As president of the organisation for the last few years, Fiona said it had been a learning curve for her, although she said she’d be lost without their great committee who are always trying to refine what they do.
“We’ve even got a few new members as volunteers, so that’s even better still. We are trying very hard to keep a good profile in the community and do well for our Junee community,” she said.
“There have been no accidents, there’s no drama, there’s no arguments with people. It runs really smoothly, and the town is very well known for it, and that’s what I like.
“We have had a lot of other community people ask us about how they run it so successfully, and I think, I don’t know how they run it so successfully, but they just do.
“I suppose it’s what the foundering fathers set up in the beginning, isn’t it? They’ve left a great legacy for all of us and for all our Can Assist people to go and help.”
Jen Parsons, President of the Junee Poker Run, said she is proud of the committee.
“I am proud of what we, as a community, have been able to do. This is the second largest one. We weren’t expecting to get anywhere near last year, but with the amount, we aren’t too far off it,” she said.
“I’m so appreciative of everything and everyone who’s contributed to it.”
The local RFS unit worked throughout the day alongside the local fire brigade to provide breakfast and lunch. The Junee Scouts also attended by helping with the cleanup duties and running the nighttime event.
Jen said it was a great feeling to give back to them as well.
“Giving the cheques is wonderful, but all of the other groups that helped make this day a success deserve recognition, as well as some people who were also recognised, like Shane Willis, who goes above and beyond every year to help us out,” she said.
“We also want to thank the Junee Council, Junee Businesses and Trades, who all help out.
“We didn’t do the surprise; we actually just arranged for all of the groups to meet at the club. Can Assist was very shocked and appreciative of it all.
At the end of the day, it’s all the same. We’re all here for one purpose, and that’s to give back as much as possible to the community and help where we can.
Jen says it was another great example of the community helping the community.
– Jack Murray
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