The Aramoho Wanganui Rowing Club (AWRC) has continually delivered kudos to the city over many years and now is in need of a return favour from the community.
The clubrooms on the banks of the Whanganui River in lower Aramoho were flooded to the second storey during the June 20 storm event.
The upper-level lounge, built in 1954, has never seen water.
The club rowing machines stored in the lounge were also flooded and the six coach-boat motors were tipped over and soaked in the river water for two days.
Rowing skiffs were damaged on their racks.
The first and second storey walls, ceilings, two kitchens, bathrooms and ceilings have all been stripped out to allow them to dry for insurance assessors to review the damage.
However, club captain Jimmy Summerville said whatever figure assessors arrive at means the $25,000 insurance excess will still need to be found.
"We simply don't have that sort of money lying around, we will need help from the community," Summerville said yesterday.
"These floods they have been calling 100-year or 50-year events seem to be coming around more often and we just can't afford to keep up repairing this damage.
"This time, we have been hit harder than we ever have and we definitely need help.
"We have launched a Givealittle fundraising campaign on our Facebook page in the hope of raising some of the $25,000 we need to meet the insurance excess."
The flood also ripped up the eights' pontoon and washed it about 20m downstream.
These pontoons are worth around $40,000 and it will take a huge effort to get it back to where it needs to be.
Not only is this home to the club, but also the home of Wanganui High School and Nga Tawa rowing.
Both schools achieve top results at the Maadi Cup.
AWRC is one of the more successful feeder clubs in the country delivering quality athletes to help fill the New Zealand elite squads.
Last year, AWRC was voted the top club at the Sport Wanganui Awards.
It also won the National Centennial Scull for the club with the most points in sculling events at the National Championships and came second in the Centennial Oar.
Rowers in the country's elite squads still eligible to wear the distinctive yellow and red striped club colours include the Gowler girls, Kerri and Jackie, Georgia Nugent-O'Leary, Luke Watts, Rebecca Scown, Chris Harris and Sarah Gray.
These are just a few of the names that have rowed successfully at national and international level in recent times.
Big names from the past include the late Trevor Coker who was a member of the eight that won Olympic gold in Munich in 1972. Clubmate Simon Dickie was also cox during that epic win.
Head coach Ian Weenink said fortunately winter was not a busy training time for rowers, so the impact of the flood in that respect was minimal.
He urged the community to get behind the fundraising effort.
"The club has done Wanganui proud over many, many years and it would be nice to think people could help us get back up and running if they are able," Weenink said.