The primary purpose of the auxiliary is to raise money for Deniliquin Hospital, for equipment and upgrades that will benefit patients and their families.
President Pam Ellerman said the group has come a long way from those early days and fundraising initiatives.
‘‘Naponda has supported the Deniliquin community for five decades today, and we take great pride in all of our achievements,’’ Mrs Ellerman said.
‘‘In that time, we have raised in the order of half a million dollars.
‘‘We started with street stalls and then went on to host the Gown of the Year fashion parades.
‘‘Then we started promoting local producers and even introduced current initiatives including the Naponda Community Store.
‘‘We have been grateful to facilitate the Naponda Mother’s Day market once a year, and our regular Farmers’ Market for nine years.
‘‘Both have been extremely popular within the community and even visitors, who have been delighted to shop local and support our small community.
‘‘All of these ventures were established so we could support our community where we could.’’
Mrs Ellerman said supporting the initiatives throughout the group’s history has been an ‘‘army of volunteers’’ and ‘‘a lot of time behind the scenes’’.
‘‘I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped, and to the community which has supported us through these past 50 years,’’ Mrs Ellerman said.
‘‘We hope Naponda can go another 50 years, carried on by future generations, supporting the community, the hospital, our local producers and creators for a long time to come.’’