Since the days of the trouble within the old Gordon Estate there have been negative connotations whenever the word Dubbo gets spoken, usually with outsiders thinking the worst of our city.

Don’t for a second think we’re too naive to think Dubbo is perfect.

Like there is in every community, Dubbo has its rogue element that doesn’t play by the rules and makes things hard for everyone.

But for every thief and criminal, we have countless good samaritans who give their time, energy and money to help out.

Last weekend was a prime example of this.

On Saturday night a huge crowd packed into the Dubbo RSL Club to help a local family doing it particularly tough.

Kara Toomey (nee Tremain) is battling a life-threatening illness for the second time, and it is taking a huge toll on her husband Robert, their kids and a wider unit of family and friends.

So what did a group of them do? They banded together, organised a fundraiser and collected about $150,000 to go towards living costs and a medical trial that could be the difference between life and death for Kara.

The next day, more than 100 people converged on Dubbo Golf Club for the St Johns College Charity Golf Day.

Held for more than a decade, this event sees the Year 12 cohort at the school fundraise to help a local organisation. This year it is Orana Early Childhood Intervention.

The result of those fundraising efforts so far this year? More than $10,000.

This was all on the same weekend as the annual Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal, another valuable fundraising venture, and the Michael Egan Book Fair.

A couple of weeks prior to that the social clubs of the Western Star and Castlereagh Hotels held a bowls day to help Trudy Millgate and Sami Suckling, both local girls who are also doing things a bit tougher than the rest of us right now.

This is a small sample of the kind of things people in our city put their hands up to be part of on a regular basis.

And we should be proud of it.

The people that organise or attend these events don’t do it to put their names up in lights. It’s about doing the right thing, helping out and enjoying the true essence of community.