September marked a concerted effort from Greyhound Racing Victoria to honour the fallen police officers, Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart, who died in the tragic shooting at Porepunkah in late August.
GRV, its active race clubs and Sportsbet will contribute a combined $15,000 to the Victoria Police Legacy Remembrance Fund after close to 150 greyhounds won from the blue number four box throughout the past month.
And this Saturday night, Shepparton Greyhound Racing Club is ready to do its bit.
The club will host its Blue Ribbon Cup, with all the proceeds raised from the event set to supplement the industry’s total contribution to the fund.
SGRC manager Carl McGrath said the Shepparton community has rallied together to assist as the bumper night of racing approaches.
“We’ve had a lot of local businesses come on board to support, and all the money raised is going directly to the families of the fallen police officers,” he said.
“That’s what the local Blue Ribbon group wanted to put their money towards and GRV is doing the same thing.
“On the night, businesses are sponsoring certain races and there’s raffles involved and stuff like that - hopefully we’ll raise a good, sizeable amount on the night.
“There’s a Blue Ribbon Cup, one of our majors sponsors has come on board to do that for the fundraiser as well.”
McGrath forecasted the night to raise around $10,000 for the cause, as “it’s just great to pay a little bit back to the people who do that sort of work for us”.
However, rattling the tin is not a new thing as far as the club’s concerned.
Last week, SGRC hosted The Royal Children’s Hospital for a presentation where the club and community’s contribution to the Good Friday Appeal was acknowledged.
“We’re really lucky; I’ve got a really good crew and they’re really loving the part about supporting local charities,” McGrath said.
“(Recently) we gave $1,000 away to the GV Pregnancy and Family Support Service and every month we’re giving away $1000 to some local group and the staff get right behind it - they love it.
“It’s a little bit of extra work for them, but it’s something they really appreciate that they’re in a position to do that.”
SGRC’s Blue Ribbon Cup event will begin this Saturday at 5:30pm.
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