This year’s NPA Ladies Gala raised more than $9,000 for the local RFS and SES. Photo: Supplied.
The Bamaga Rural Fire Service (RFS) and State Emergency Service have received more than $9,000 after an extremely successful – and extremely pink – NPA Ladies Gala fundraiser on 12 October.
Punsand Bay Cape York Camping manager Kahlia Colquhoun took the reins for the 11th running of the event, which brought together 50 local women for a fun-filled night with a pink cowgirl disco theme.
Ms Colquhoun recently joined the local RFS as a volunteer, inspiring her decision for this year’s charity of choice.
“I wanted to make sure it goes back into the community; all the big foundations are fantastic, but a lot of the time, it doesn’t directly assist community members, so that was really important to me,” she said.
“I know how much help both of those groups need, it’s pretty hard to find volunteers.
“They were kind of expecting only about $1,500, so they were shocked when I called and said they’ve got $9,200 up their sleeves to spend, so they’re holding a meeting later this month to work out what they want to put it towards.”
Ms Colquhoun said guest speakers from the RFS were also present at the event to encourage women to consider volunteering with the service.
“With each of these groups, I think it’d be great to have more women involved,” she said.
“There’s a couple of pretty amazing women that are involved with those groups already, but just putting the word out that it’s not just something for the men to do, it’s definitely something that women can contribute to as well.”
Aside from the fundraising efforts, she said it was a fantastic night of dancing, music and laughing to celebrate the closing of tourist season.
“There’s not as many tourists here, which just makes it easier for us to give more time and energy to the event and the local ladies,” Ms Colquhoun said.
“It’s really about those remote community women being able to have a night specifically for them, and it’s a great excuse for us to get dolled up, put a pair of heels on – or cowgirl boots this year, put a dress on, and have a really fantastic night.”
