It has been a week of tear-jerking generosity from the members of the Portarlington Golf Club.
Following three Christmas "break-up" rounds of golf - two for the men on Tuesday and one for the women on Wednesday - there were meals and parties where the festive spirit shone through in spectacular fashion.
The raffles raised an extraordinary $1810 - a figure that will be raised to $2000 by another club donation in addition to the meals and raffle prizes already contributed.
That cash will be sent to Food Assist 3223, whose president Prue Drever was emotional when addressing the women's function.
In addition to the financial aid, there was not enough space in the club bus to transport all the donated food and children's Christmas presents to the charity's Newcombe St headquarters.
"I'm totally overwhelmed," Drever said.
"Thank you isn't adequate to all the members who were so generous.
"It's the most amazing gift to us to pass on to others - it was truly unbelievable and so moving, I couldn't help but cry to see it all."
Drever addressed the function and attempted to explain the desperate "plight" of so many in our community who rely on donated food and other necessities to make ends meet in their lives.
"If you don't need food relief, it's hard to understand it," she said.
"So it's part of my job to put it out there and have people understand that it's such a real and massive issue.
"That's why it's so amazing to see this level of generosity from the golf club.
"It's an amazing array of donations and gifts ... and I was pleasantly surprised even more by the quality and thoughts put into the gifts for the children.
"You should have seen all the faces (at the hall) when we dropped in a bus full of stuff - everyone was just blown away and so grateful to you all."
Club chief executive Michael Phillips said it was great to continue the club's involvement with Food Assist 3223, which also received a $7000 donation earlier this year from its Community Contribution Fund.
"It's hard to think of a more appropriate organisation for us to support within our community because it helps so many people," Phillips said.
"So on behalf of all of our extremely generous members, I wanted to thank Prue and her team for all the work they do to ease a genuine issue in our community.
"And I want to thank the members themselves for being so giving, especially at this time of the year."
Any donated toys not given to chidren immediately by Drever and her team will be sent to Pastor Jake at the Drysdale Community Church where they'll be distributed in time for Christmas.
But it wasn't all serious stuff through the week, particularly with the women's break-up party evolving into a singalong with a jukebox turned karaoke machine.
Captain Jenny Edmanson, who herself turned in a wonderful Abba duet with songbird staff member Lucy Jones, said everyone had a great time to celebrate the festive season.
"There was some great singing - not by me, for the record - and a heap of dancing, too, which was fantastic.
"It was a great way to celebrate the year and do something good for our community all at the same time."
