The Southern 80 calls for local support

The Moama Water Sports Club has hit the Echuca-Moama business community’s mailboxes with a call for financial support for the Southern 80 Waterski Race.

The Moama Water Sports Club, a volunteer organisation that runs the event on the Murray River each February, says it has decided to go directly to the businesses which benefit from the event but don’t necessarily financially assist it. The Southern 80 has suffered its fourth financial loss in as many years, and the organisers are concerned over its viability.

Alan McDonald, MWSC president, said: “We understand that some businesses have assisted us in the past, but we have mailed out a supporters package to every business to cover all bases.”

McDonald said in a press release last month that the organisers were having a hard time securing financial help from local businesses. “We generate over $22 million for the community and we can’t even get some businesses to put up $100 to help with the event they profit from,” he said at the time.

MWSC has a “Supporters Package” starting from $100. Supporters will be furnished with a sticker for their business’s window, allowing competitors and event spectators to recognise businesses that support the event.

McDonald stressed that the event will not manage to run in 2011 without this support. “It would be tragedy to see such a great event, which has been running for 44 years, to go by the wayside”, he said.

MWSC urges businesses to take up the offer in their mailboxes. Call (03) 5480 6754 or email secretary@southern80.com.au for more information.