Galston & District Community Bank just handed over $25,000 to the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, and the cheque didn’t sit in an envelope for long.
Sanctuary CEO and Director Ben Dessen took delivery in person, bank rep Savio Pereira on hand, Hills Shire Mayor Warren Waddell rounding out the small crowd at the sanctuary itself.
Money like that doesn’t go far in conservation circles generally, but this isn’t a generalist operation. The sanctuary’s work centres on a species found only in the Hills district, animals that won’t get a second chance anywhere else if local numbers slide.
That narrows the stakes considerably, and it’s part of why the bank picked this project over the dozens of other worthy causes on its list.
Dessen’s team didn’t make a show of the gratitude. Running a sanctuary on a knife-edge budget means every grant matters more than the last, and this one lands at a time when the rescue and rehabilitation side of the work needs it.
The bank, for its part, framed the donation as proof that profits generated locally should return to local hands. Whether $25,000 is enough to change the sanctuary’s trajectory in the long term is a fair question. For now, it buys breathing room.