The Charters Towers community are the beneficiaries of not one, but two grants handed out by Queensland Country Bank’s Good for Good Community Grants program.
LiteHaus International received a grant of $10,000 to refurbish 100 laptops that will be distributed amongst Charters Towers students, equipping them with the devices required to learn in the modern-day classroom.
The devices will be handed over on Monday as part of the first leg of LiteHaus International’s Central Queensland rollout, where 400 more devices will be delivered to students and community members across Central Queensland including Emerald, Winton, and Longreach.
“The digital divide is by no means limited to developing countries as tens of thousands of students across Australia, particularly in rural and remote regions, do not own a personal digital device at home,” Rob Birnie, Australian Programs Lead, LiteHaus International said.
“This is an enormous constraint to students and their schools and it truly came to the fore during the height of the COVID-19 crisis which left thousands of students across Queensland stranded without a digital device as education moved onto online platforms.
“The Queensland Country Bank Good for Good grant has enabled us at LiteHaus to distribute 100 devices to students in the Charters Towers region, who otherwise would have gone without, providing necessary tools to learn and excel in today’s digital era.”
Charters Towers’ Our Town Association also received a grant of $5000 to help with the purchase of a new hospital bed and other medical supplies.
“Our Town Association help anyone in the district with medical aides such as hospital beds, wheelie walkers and shower chairs. If we don’t have what is requested, we will either source one locally or purchase a new one. We seldom refuse to help,” Jo Feirclough, Our Town Association President said.
“We primarily raise funds through markets and raffles so to receive $5000 to be able to purchase a brand-new bed and other smaller equipment straight away has been a huge boost.”
Queensland Country Bank Charters Towers Branch Manager Sue Murphy was delighted that the local community would benefit from two rounds of funding thanks to the Good for Good program.
“As a member-owned organisation, it brings us great pride to be able to support initiatives that will leave a long-lasting positive impact on the community,” Ms Murphy said.
“LiteHaus International and Our Town Association are two great organisations who are doing meaningful work in the Charters Towers region that will be felt right across the entire community. It’s extremely pleasing to be able to give back to our Members and community in this way.”
Over $130,000 in funding was awarded to Queensland community groups during the last round of Good for Good Community Grants. This is the sixth year that the program has run and follows Queensland Country Bank’s long history of supporting the community through grants with over $2.5 million injected into Queensland community projects since 2005.