The Ladies’ Committee at The Brisbane Golf Club has donated $9,250 to the Western Queensland Drought Appeal (WQDA).

Thanks to the numerous fundraising events held throughout 2016, this donation will be used to help 37 individual families and local small business owners by way of $250 pre-loaded gift cards.

Ingrid Miller from WQDA said support of this charity helps families that have been gripped by drought.

“Every dollar donated to the Appeal is spent directly in our local community to help struggling families and businesses who are affected by the ongoing drought that continues to grip our region,” said Ingrid.

“Your valuable donation will be used to help pay household bills or enable family members to enjoy a luxury they have done away with in recent times due to a tight budget.”

Western Queensland is an area of 934,400 km2 or 54% of Queensland. It has been officially drought declared since mid-2013 and the situation has been steadily worsening.

2016 Ladies’ President, Susan Eagleton, said she was very proud to announce the donation on behalf of the Ladies’ Committee, and thanked Members for their contributions.

“The Ladies’ Committee has worked hard to coordinate numerous events during the year and our wonderful BGC Members have been extremely supportive,” said Susan.

“We held a trivia night, sold jams and pickles, conducted a Cent Auction, sold Mulligans on our Irish Day, as well as raffling a quilt hand-sewn by Member Pat Sloan and an original watercolour painting by  Member Robbie McDonald.”

The Ladies’ Committee at The Brisbane Golf Club donated $7,500 to Canine Helpers for the Disabled in 2015.

The economy of western Queensland is driven by agriculture, with family beef, sheep and goat farms usually worth over $1.4 billion and employing more than 4,000 people (15% of the region’s population).