Home » Seeds dinner showcases Westside’s story

Seeds dinner showcases Westside’s story

Daniel Bouwmeester    July 6, 2023    3 min read   

The annual Seeds Fundraising Dinner for Westside Community Care took place at the Brookwater Golf & Country Club last month, pulling a record fundraising haul for an important cause.

On Monday, June 12, from 7pm, dignitaries and guests took their seats for a night of auctions and raffles to raise funds for Westside Transformations, the new addiction rehabilitation facility and program based near the Camira Springfield Community Centre.

The event was sold out – and, combining all ticket sales, donations, auctions, and raffled items, the grand fundraising total for the night was approximately $50,000. That figure is comparable to last year’s tally, and several times greater than previous years, going back to the inaugural 2015 affair.

Westside Community Care director Phil Cutcliffe – who is also a pastor at Springfield Christian Family (SCF) church – was thrilled by the result.

Bottom row (left to right): Jordan MP Charis Mullen, Orion Family Physiotherapy’s Emma Atherton, Springfield City Group (SCG) Managing Director Raynuha Sinnathamby, and SCG Director of Education and Health Services Meera Honan. Top row: IGA Springfield Lakes owner-manager Terry Slaughter, Division 2 Councillor Paul Tully, Pastor Phil Cutcliffe, Oxley MP Milton Dick, Blair MP Shayne Neumann, and Division 2 Cr Nicole Jonic. Image: Charis Mullen MP.

“It is only through the generosity of faithful friends in the community that, together, we are able to continue to support and make a difference in the Greater Springfield area,” Phil said.

Pastor Phil thanked not just the generous guests, but all the volunteers who made the event possible – especially lead event organiser Yvette Atkins.

Westside Community Care has been serving the community of Greater Springfield for more than 25 years in cooperation with many local businesses and organisations.

In addition to Phil Cutcliffe, speakers on the night included Springfield City Group’s Raynuha Sinnathamby and SCF co-founder and service pastor Deborah Van Bennekom.

Attendees included Division 2 Councillor Nicole Jonic, Jordan MP Charis Mullen, Terry and Frances Slaughter of IGA Springfield Lakes, Radio Springfield City’s Peter Carey, and The Greater Springfield Times owner and chief editor Paul Jackson.

The ‘Seeds’ name refers to inspirational stories that have come about from the “seeds that have already been sown” by Springfield’s community.

With the increasingly high cost of living, Westside Community Care has been stretched over the last year with hundreds of people seeking additional help.

Last year, it provided hundreds of hampers every week, culminating in a busy Christmas period with an extra 290 Christmas hampers and over 2,000 children’s presents given to struggling families.


See also: Rotary Club raising a toast – and funds – to help transform lives

Daniel Bouwmeester

Daniel was born in a mining town in New South Wales to Dutch and Welsh immigrants, before relocating to Logan City, where he attended Canterbury College for twelve years. He pursued his passion for music by completing a first-class honours degree at the University of Queensland (UQ), and later signed with a local record label. He has travelled the world from a young age, including a student exchange in rural France, a job working the ski lifts in Colorado, and visits to the islands of the South Pacific. After a six-year career in market research, Daniel returned to UQ to complete a Bachelor of Journalism and Arts dual degree, majoring in political science. His varied experiences at home and abroad have contributed to a passion for spreading good news while defending the truth buried inside complex societal paradigms.