24 October 2025

Charity that has helped 200 Griffith students go to uni pleads for support to avoid folding

| By Oliver Jacques
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group holding out awards

The Country Education Foundation awards grants to students each January, but this may not continue. Photo: Country Education Foundation of Griffith.

A longstanding charity that has provided funding to help almost 200 Griffith students go to university has pleaded for more community support to prevent it from folding.

The Country Education Foundation (CEF) of Griffith treasurer Sherene Blumer said the lack of volunteer board members meant her organisation was struggling to survive.

“Only four of our members turned up to our annual general meeting earlier this month, so we rescheduled to 30 October,” she said.

“The bottom line is we don’t get people to the rescheduled AGM, we’ll have to fold. We have some limited finances that we’ll give to those from the latest round of applications, then we’ll close our books and finish up.”

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Ms Blumer said this would be an extremely disappointing outcome for students who had benefited from their fundraising since 2011.

There is no university in Griffith and often students get no financial support from government when they travel to another city to study. The CEF hosts fundraisers to provide grants to students to pay for expenses such as textbooks, tuition and the cost of living away from home.

“Last year we gave away $36,500 to 15 to 20 kids. But with co-funding from universities and other groups, there was another $31,500 for them. There are students who get ongoing funding from their uni if they’ve received a grant from us,” she said.

“We have supported just under 200 students since we started in 2011. We’ve raised $285,000 for them but we’ve probably got that amount again through co-funding. So there’s been over a half million.”

CEF Griffith has been supported by funding from Yenda Producers, Griffith City Council and the Griffith Exies and Leagues clubs. A diminishing number of volunteers have kept the charity afloat for 14 years, with president Craig O’Keefe, Sonya Salvestro and Lily Burley the only other board members to attend the latest AGM along with Ms Blumerf.

“I joined the board because my youngest child Ruby received a grant, so I felt I needed to give back,” Ms Blumer said.

“But we just haven’t had any parents of the kids who have been beneficiaries come on board since the inception. Everyone is burnt-out.

“We haven’t got many grants from government or businesses; it seems nobody wants to give to education.

“Anyone can come to our AGM at the end of this month – just to find out information and decide if they want to help out.”

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Ms Blumer said CEF didn’t just help uni students, but the whole town.

“A lot of the students who received our grants have come back to Griffith and become occupational therapists, teachers and other professions we desperately need,” she said.

“My daughter Ruby is someone who has come back.”

The Country Education Foundation Griffith AGM will be held at 7 pm on 30 October. All welcome. If you could help out in any other way, email Ms Blumer at [email protected].

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