Cowboys Cares – The Road to Recovery

It has been more than seven months since the Townsville floods, yet anyone who lives in North Queensland will know that the effects of this devastating event are still being felt across the community. Whilst our Club was lucky enough to not sustain substantial building damage, many of our own team of staff and numerous members were severely affected by the weather event.

For the Cowboys Leagues Club, our Mission Statement has always been Our People, Our Team, Our Community and this has certainly rung true in recent times. Above all, the Club has strived to support the community on the road to recovery post-floods.

Part of these efforts initially involved a special partnership with Team Rubicon Australia, a veteran-led disaster response organization who helped clean houses, fix roofs, move furniture and complete damage assessments of flood affected residents. Team Rubicon reached out to the Club shortly after the flood event in the hope of attracting more volunteers in their ranks to assist with the cleanup. With just one appeal, scores of staff & members of the Cowboys Leagues Club arrived at the Team Rubicon base ready to help out with whatever mission they were given and put in an incredible day of volunteering work.

The initial clean up was only the beginning though – for 3 months, the Club began offering a discounted membership option, with 100% of the proceeds directly towards the Townsville flood recovery. General Manager Clint Williams was completely overwhelmed by the public’s support of this initiative.

“It was incredible to see our staff and existing members getting out into the community to spread the word about the discounted offer, and helping put our community back together again. We even had pre-existing members simply offer to donate money in order to play their part,” Clint stated. In an incredible show of support, the Club raised over $20,000 by the end of the campaign, with worthy recipients in cash and in-kind including other community Clubs such as the Townsville Golf Club and Townsville RSL.

Mitch Bligh, General Manager of Townsville Golf Club was incredibly grateful for the support of the Cowboys Leagues Club. “We have been donated over $7,000 worth of prizes that will not only save us money, but will help us raise money over the next 12 months. We couldn’t be more grateful for the support of not only the Cowboys Leagues Club, but their members who got behind this great cause,” Mitch declared.

In addition to Community Clubs, funds were also donated to the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal, who played and continue to play a vital role in getting North Queensland back on its feet. Yet for General Manager Clint Williams, this is still only the start of the journey for the Club.

“Being a 100% community owned Club, means we have a duty to support our North Queensland community and beyond. In times of disaster, the North Queensland community has an uncanny knack for pulling together despite hardship, and we are determined to help our community come back stronger than ever,” Clint stated.

“We also want to give a huge thank you to all of our members for their support of these initiatives – it’s amazing to see that despite such adversity, our community can always come together to achieve incredible things.”