The Orange Lions Club has made yet another donation of specialised surgical equipment to Orange Hospital, helping to ease the burden of families with sick kids.

Local Lions, through their Give Me Change for Kids charity, presented the hospital with a microdebrider, a $35,000 specialist surgical tool for use on children.

The microdebrider will allow local doctors to undertake essential sinus and related operations on babies and small children right here in Orange, which means fewer children having to seek medical care in Sydney or further away from home, said Give Me Change for Kids coordinator, Graham Eggleston.

“The Lions Club project Give Me Change for Kids is designed to purchase equipment for the children’s Ward at the hospital that wouldn’t be able to get ordinarily,” Graham said.

“Anything that we buy is something that they can’t ordinarily get, but they desperately need – and there’s plenty of that!”

This is the fifth major piece of equipment that the Lions have donated over the past few years,” he said.

“Our second was a Werewolf Coblation system... a bit of equipment that, if the doctors have it, they can make tonsillectomies and other things a day surgery. That helps the hospital because it can free up beds and the child doesn’t have to go to Sydney.

“We heard a couple of parents say to the doctors that just having that bit of equipment in Orange has saved them thousands of dollars as they don’t have to use up leave and don’t have to get accommodation.”

But Give Me Change for Kids wouldn’t be able to do what they do without the tremendous support they receive from the community, Graham said.

“Just on the weekend in Orange, the Bloomfield Country Club had a fundraising day for us and raised $3,000!”

The bowls day, held at the Country Club on Saturday, was a friendly “City Vs Country” tournament between Country Club bowlers and their rivals from the Orange City Bowling Club.

“We even have some helpers in Molong, they’re called the ‘Three Grannies’ and every six months they run a stall for us and always get $1000 to $1200 out of it,’ Graham continued.

“And there’s various organisations now that donate, we don’t have to ask anymore, it’s just ‘When do you want it?’”