Zoe Moffatt
A group of Macedon Ranges schools have banned together for a second year of mango madness fundraising.
Woodend Primary School Parents and Friends Association started the mango drive last year, getting fresh mangoes delivered from family-owned farm Bowen Mangoes in north Queensland.
Last year Tylden, Newham and Hesket Primary School joined the fundraiser, and this year Trentham District Primary School was invited to join.
Association president Andrew Gregory said the fundraiser was a way to provide some extra funding for the school, while supporting quality food and a family business.
“Last year Woodend Primary had sufficient numbers to get the delivery… [and] I reached out to the smaller schools in the area to see if they wanted to join in,” Mr Gregory said.
“I wanted to give them the opportunity to benefit from fundraising for the school. Any fundraising is good fundraising.
“It doesn’t take a lot of time to coordinate… it’s an easy way to earn some funds for the school.”
Mr Gregory said the mangos were divine, and workers from both the courier company and Bowen Mangoes were very gracious with their time.
“Whilst it’s a Queensland company, they’ve been doing this for a while… and we want to support them while getting good value and quality for our school families.
“It’s a long way in the truck but there’s minimal storage. They’re straight from the farm to the families [and] compared to instore prices, it’s still better off than the big retailers.
“It enables us to contribute to school equipment and expenses [as] we all know that sometimes school budgets are tight.”
Nearby Newham Primary School will be using the funds raised for new soccer nets for the school.
Mr Gregory said his own family really enjoyed the mangoes last year, and while they freeze well, they were all eaten before they could hit the ice.
