Community
30 April, 2025
Terrific trio help raise $320,000 for Outback flood victims
Mount Isa's Amy Kuhne was part of a trio that organised a fundraising ball in the space of a month.
Amy Kuhne says she’s looking forward to the week after this year’s Mount Isa Rodeo, when she plans to “sleep for a week” after what will have been a hectic eight months.
The 21-year-old was already attempting to juggle full-time study with being a Zonta Rodeo Queen Quest entrant, only to then get roped into helping organise a gala fundraiser to help raise funds and awareness for western Queensland’s flood victims.
“It all came about quite quickly,” Amy said of the Rising Together for Rural Queensland event, which drew 500 attendees to the Brisbane City Hall on Saturday night and raised more than $320,000 for charity.
“Charlotte (Hood), my friend, sent me a text message asking if we could do something to help, having seen the devastation of the floods. So, I rang Bella (Hanson), our other friend, and within 48 hours, maybe three days, we had secured a venue, announced it, and started selling tickets.
“It was all over within a month.
“I don’t think it has sunk in yet, actually.”
Amy said the trio wanted the event to be held in Brisbane so it could spread the word of the devastation facing people living in the flood-impacted areas.
“I think they do understand (how bad it was). That was evident by the generosity of people in the room and the willingness to put their hand in their pocket,” she said.
“We tried to portray it as well as we could to give people that insight as to what was going on (in the flood zones).
“We had a guest speaker, Senator Susan McDonald spoke well, and we had the video by (photographer) Pete Murray with all the footage from out west. So I think people do have that idea of the devastation.”
Amy, who is now heading to Gregory to do more fundraising for the Mount Isa branch of the Country Women’s Association as part of her Zonta Rodeo Queen Quest duties, said she had no regrets about taking on such a workload in 2025.
“It’s worth it because it’s such a great cause,” she said.
