Like many community-minded organisations, the Bellarine North Rotary Club has more than its fair share of hands reaching in its direction these days.

So when president Bruce Van Every took the call that his club had been given $300 from the Portarlington Golf Club’s Community Contribution Fund (CCF), he was rapt.

The Rotary team had requested the funding to build racks and storage for safe transportation of its barbecue trailer that is such a fixture at so many of the activities it attends.

The money, although not a life-changing sum, was important to the club to ensure ease of operation for its mostly retired volunteer roster.

“It’s very important to us because otherwise we'd have to raise the money ourselves – and that’s never easy,” Bruce said.

“We are a not-for-profit (organisation) and every dollar that we get goes back into the community.

“So if we can get some help along the way, like this, it's very much appreciated.

“Everybody's doing it tough, so if we can help out with food banks or in the local schools and around the community, we want to be out there doing it.

“And building stuff for our trailer will make it much easier for us all to do that.”

Bruce said his clubmates were “pleasantly surprised” when they heard of the funding.

“Yeah, we were because we realise there are a lot of community groups that your club helps and to be one of them is very important to us and what we can do back for the other groups in need.”

PGC chief executive Michael Phillips was delighted the money would effectively be quickly returned to the community via the project.

“The Rotary Club has a positive impact on so many other groups, so to help them out by ensuring their trailer and volunteers are safe and secure makes sense to us,” he said.

“One of the key criteria for the CCF grants is for them to benefit the community broadly – nobody doubts the Rotary club will do just that.”

The grant is part of a total of $12,500 to be distributed by the 2026 CCF, spread among seven successful applicants.

The total means that in the past six financial years, the Portarlington Golf Club has given charitable support directly to the community of more than $180,000.

In that time, the CCF component has become the biggest single source of community initiatives with more than $60,000 in such grants alone.

The CCF was established to support not-for-profit community or sporting organisations to make positive improvements that will, in turn, benefit the wider community.

This year, highlighting just how much the CCF means to these institutions, the club received a record 32 grant applications totalling in excess of $100,000.

“We really think these donations have become incredibly important within our community, as evidenced by the number of people asking for assistance,” Phillips said.

“So we’re delighted that so many projects will come to fruition as a result of the grants and, in particular, that so many of them will help fulfil a broader community need.”

Portarlington Golf Club’s Max Ballagh congratulates Bellarine North Rotary Club president Bruce Van Every on receiving his CCF grant.