Ritchies boost for fire fight

By Kelly Yates
CRANBOURNE fire station is the proud new owner of a Nissan Navara after receiving a cheque for $23,880 from the local Ritchies supermarket.
As part of its community benefits program, the supermarket has donated money to the fire station for more than 10 years.
The new car will replace one of the brigade tankers and will be used to transport crews to fires and carry fire-fighting gear and lighting equipment.
Ritchies community benefits program coordinator Judy Rebecca said it was the local community that nominated Cranbourne fire station for the program.
“We’ve also raised funds for other local organisations.
“We raised over $6000 for the bowling club, over $3000 for the cricket club, over $14,000 for Cranbourne Park Primary School and over $18,000 for Cranbourne Secondary College,” she said.
Ms Rebecca said the program raised $4.5 million throughout all of the 34 stores in Victoria last year.
Officer-in-charge of Cranbourne fire station John Murtagh said last year the fire station used the funds to buy a water tank and pump.
He said the program was helpful because it provided a continual stream of funds coming into the station.