COVID’s impact on RSL fundraising

A message from RSL Australia

It was an impromptu gesture that warmed Vietnam veteran Peter Kerley’s heart.

As the clock ticked over to 11am on 11 November 2021, Peter stood tall in his place at the Karingal Hub mall in Frankston just south of Melbourne, where he had been fundraising for the RSL Poppy Appeal over the last few days. Amid the hustle and bustle of the shopping centre, which was undergoing a noisy renovation, he found his loudest and best voice and began to recite the Ode of Remembrance, paying tribute to our fallen diggers.

Within moments, shoppers froze in their spots and the chorus of jackhammers and other construction noise fell silent.

One by one the workers emerged from behind the construction hoarding and lined up, hard hats off, heads bowed, solemnly paying their respects while Peter’s lone voice said those haunting words, accompanied by a bugler playing the Last Post and Reveille.

‘It was wonderful,’ says Peter, who is the Frankston RSL’s Appeals Officer. ‘It was so heartening to see this roll-up of people and the reverence they had for our departed was really something special. I was very pleased.’

It’s moments like this that Peter, who served 346 days in Vietnam, and the Frankston RSL President Kevin Hillier OAM, a Navy veteran of 28 years’ service, cherish from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has challenged the way they traditionally operate.

When the global pandemic hit our shores in March 2020 it plunged the nation into lockdown just as RSLs around the country were preparing for major Anzac Day commemorations, including the vital ANZAC Appeal.

‘COVID absolutely put the kibosh on everything,’ says Peter. ‘All of the regular places we did our fundraising, such as Bunnings, were no longer able to host us, so we had no funds at all generated from Anzac Day.

‘Our main task is looking after our veterans, and we have 400 veterans who are over 80 years-old,’ says Kevin. ‘So we really put our efforts into making sure they were okay. Sadly, our hospital visit program had to stop, but we made sure we were ringing our veterans regularly, dropping off toilet paper and other necessities. We mowed lawns and helped with maintenance. It was a very practical offer of help within the parameters of what we were allowed to do.’

This year the Frankston RSL is back on track for the ANZAC Appeal with a strong presence planned at local retailers such as Bunnings and Karingal Hub, and enthusiastic support from more than 70 small businesses and 35 local schools.

Funds raised through the ANZAC and Poppy appeals help local RSL sub-branches continue to provide grassroots outreach such as food vouchers, accommodation support, hospital visits, and help around the home for veterans and their families.

Funds raised through the appeals also go towards helping the RSL provide its statewide welfare, advocacy and wellbeing support programs.

Jeff Jackson is the Compensation and Welfare Support Manager for RSL Victoria. He says all money raised goes directly to current and ex-serving members of the Australian and Allied Defence Forces and their dependants, with the RSL able to provide a broad range of services, tailored to individual needs.

‘These include urgent dental treatment, reading glasses, welfare like food, clothes and books for kids at school,’ he says. ‘And then there are other parts like rent assistance, preventing homelessness, helping with car registration, things like that.

‘Funds raised by the Poppy Appeal and other appeals go to funding our permanent team of advocates, a service to veterans which enables them to access their rightful entitlements.’

Peter adds, ‘We exist to look after veterans and their families, whether they are older or younger because our veterans are getting much younger these days. It’s important that veterans know that there’s always someone who can talk to them and look after them at any time. We take great pride in that.

‘We want to make sure that all of our veterans are going along okay and they are looked after. It’s the core of every RSL branch and club. We never forget why we are here.’

Above: Peter Kerley, Frankston RSL’s Appeals Officer

Above: Frankston RSL President Kevin Hillier OAM