Cowra Rotary has given Cowra’s Riding for the Disabled (RDA) a donation for $500 which will go towards new equipment and ongoing operating costs.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At a recent Rotary meeting, the board decided to donate to Cowra RDA and continue to support their vital service.
Cowra Rotary President Ken Harris said the group donates to RDA each year.
“RDA gets support from Rotary every year so we just feel its a responsibility of our community organisation,” he said.
“It’s something that every community should have.”
Cowra RDA President Frances Woodbridge said the organisation was grateful to receive the donation from Rotary.
“It’s fabulous, any donation is good for us,” she said.
“It’s because we are volunteers, every last one of us and the horses are an expensive upkeep.”
Ms Woodbridge said the RDA has a lot of continual costs to tackle and any donations go towards helping bring a better service to those with disabilities.
“The only thing the kids pay for is the insurance side of it, which I think is $82 a year otherwise we provide everything, we buy all the helmets, which have to be replaced every five years, boots and the upkeep of the horses, we pay for all of that,” she said.
“Feed for the horses, helmets, boots, equipment, saddles, saddles are a big expensive.
“We have one horse, Music, he’s going to need a new saddle so that’s at least $500 to a thousand for a year for that horse.
“The horses a big expense, things like veterinary bills.”
Ms Woodbridge said Cowra RDA has around 40 volunteers who help out every Wednesday, however they are always on the lookout for more.
“We are always short of volunteers, luckily we don't have too many kids this year who need sidewalkers,” she said.
She said the smiles on the faces of kids from Holman Place, Cowra Public and Cowra High School makes it all worth it.
“But they seem to get a lot out of it, there was one little girl earlier… she was almost in tears,” she said.
“As soon as they got her onto the horse, she stopped crying and she was just happy.”