Fuel vouchers say thank you to local community

By Bransen Gibson

Dec 19, 2022

Special thank you: Fourteen local organisations received a share of $10,000 in fuel cards on behalf of Ampol and TASCO Petroleum at a special event last Thursday night. Photo by Contributed

Ampol and TASCO Petroleum have given back to the Rochester community by donating thousands of dollars worth of fuel vouchers to local organisations.

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A total of $10,000 in fuel cards was shared amongst 14 different community groups at a special event at the Rochester Wine Tavern last Thursday, December 15.

The vouchers were given to the Rochester Football Netball Club, Rochester CFA, Rochester SES, Rochester Community House, Rochester Business Network and Rochester Dairy Farmers Business Network.

Rochester Cricket Club, Rochester Basketball Association, Rochester Tennis Club, Rochester RSL, Rochester Lions Club, Rochester Secondary School, Rochester Primary School and St Joseph’s Primary School also received fuel cards.

Justin Cleary and his wife, Rachel, have owned the Ampol in Rochester for 20 years and said the event was the perfect opportunity to give back to the town.

Mr Cleary said about 100 guests were there on the night, including representatives from TASCO Petroleum, Ampol and different community organisations.

“We just wanted to recognise their great work over the challenging time they have had,” he said.

“It was our way of saying thank you to the community that has supported our business so well, not just recently, but over the past 20 years.

“It was a good night, it had a great feel about it. We are very pleased to be able to give back a little bit.”

Good vibes: Justin Cleary, Mark McKenzie, Evan Newell, Ray Hamilton, Rachel Cleary and Peter Moran at the special event held to give away fuel vouchers to the Rochester community. Photo by Contributed

Like much of the town, Mr Cleary said the Ampol site was heavily impacted by the floodwaters in October. But fortunately, they were able to reopen quickly.

“We had a foot and a half of water through the site,” he said.

“We lifted everything in the store that we could, we got most of our stock up. We ensured all of our fuel pumps were locked up tight.

“We were able to access the site on Monday. We got a bit of cleaning done that night, and we were open the next afternoon. Within 24 hours of accessing the site we had the doors open.”

Fittingly, the first vehicle to get fuel after they reopened was one that played a key role throughout the flood crisis – a local fire truck.