By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
BREAKING into the community onward from the most recent bull bucking, cowboy-laced extravaganza, the Traralgon Rodeo handed out a $15,000 donation to the Little Jem Foundation.
Identified due to the connection with some of the rodeo committee members, Tinamba West couple and charity founders Mat and Amy Daly were ecstatic to receive the news of such grand support from a fellow community group.
The $15,000 pledge is the single largest donation the Little Jem Foundation has had in its 12-year undertaking.
“When Terry (Duncan) rang and he explained what would happen, he said they had raised a few funds and would like to donate to Little Jem,” Mat told the Express.
“I thought (they) might have said 500 bucks or something, but then they dropped the $15,000.”
The Little Jem Foundation was established in 2014 to support fellow Gippsland families who’ve experienced the loss of a baby or child, paying for funerals, offering up counselling and providing peer support during a period of unimaginable grief.
The idea was sparked following the Daly’s own tragedy.
After losing their daughter Jemma, who was born 13 weeks premature, the Little Jem Foundation was set up in her memory, with golf days and fun runs done each year to raise funds for the charity.
In 2024, an aeroplane incident over the family’s Tinamba West farm claimed the lives of their son Dustin and their two nephews Luke and Ben Smith, which has only meant the community has wrapped its arms around the Dalys and their work further.
“It’s definitely grown in the last couple of years and this community support we’ve got is amazing,” Amy said.
“From a local perspective, because we do all of our donations to the Gippsland region, for another local community to come on board and support us back is just overwhelming.”
The decision was made by Traralgon Rodeo organiser Paul Kenny to deliver the donation to the Little Jem Foundation.
Money raised will help cover funeral costs, which is extremely helpful given that in recent weeks, the Little Jem Foundation has supported eight Gippsland families – from East Gippsland to the Latrobe Valley and through to West Gippsland.
Amy added that awareness of the charity has grown through the funeral homes they coordinate with, as well as the connection through families they’ve been there for in the past.
“The funeral homes will get in contact with us, or a lot of the time, family friends of the (affected families) will contact us and let us know that there’s been a baby or child pass away,” she said.
“Then we’ll get in contact with them and give them some support.”
Amy stamped that it’s always their mission to elevate some of the pressures placed on families following an unforeseen crisis, and showing that there’s people out there willing to help.
“Our big motto with the foundation is that the money raised is a great big hug from the community to the families, letting them know that this community is behind you and supporting you,” she said.
In previous years, the Traralgon Rodeo made a $20,000 donation to non-profit Very Special Kids, which supports holistic palliative care for children and young people.
