Things were pretty hectic yesterday, the generator running the coolroom ran out of fuel, a couple of other things broke down and plenty of work was happening on site. Things were sorted by the end of the day thanks to some quick action by the locals and DHS stepped in to sort out the fuel supply problem. Once we get power to the site things will be OK but these things happen when you are doing it on the fly.
At 1.30 we got a call from Boyd Jackson, he has organised a Harley ride down from Cairns to raise money for bushfire victims and was in Yea. Having ridden 4000kms we thought it only fair he ride another 20 and come into town. Harleys are a common site around Flowerdale so I told him he would be more than welcome, also to get his skates on so he could get lunch at the pub. Boyd and his group have raised $40,000 for the bushfire appeal. I will try to grab some pics once Boyd gets back online. See www.rideoffire.com
The guys had a look at the destruction zone and then visited the village. I spoke to Boyd last night, he was overwhelmed with the scale of the disaster but also amazed at how the community has banded together to get things going. He said that he was going to ensure the group become "Friends of Flowerdale" and will continue to do what they can to help those affected by the fires.
My old mate Steve Outtrim, one of the pioneers of the internet, dropped by with an armful of xBoxes and games. These are so important because many kids coming back have not much to do and can be quite a handful. Thanks Steve.
Who knows what today will bring, no doubt we will have our challenges but we will work through them and keep marching on.
Showing posts with label temporary village. Show all posts
Showing posts with label temporary village. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
This is the place for a village
The first two semi permanent units are pretty well built and look great.
They should be finished today and hopefully we will have them inhabited very quickly. I am trying to work out what we do with furniture but hopefully that is in hand. We have a really cool laundry facility which came from Leightons, I think.
Spent quite a bit of time over the long weekend with Andrew Forrest and his team, they really got in amongst the locals, and delivered plenty of action combined with compassion. All of the Portable Chalets from Fortescue Metals are now in place and looking good. We can't thank Andrew enough for his drive, dynamism and delivery.
"Andrew Forrest with Crash, the man behind Crashtown"
"Andrew Forrest with Lynette and her son, some of the first residents in our Village"
John Burgess and I visited Marysville yesterday, they are moving quickly to establish a temporary village. They have a great area across from the golf club which has power and plumbing and it should receive its first portable chalets (the mobile homes formerly known as Dongas) this week. The marysville guys seem to be hitting their straps and things are on the move there as well.
My other big problem is that I am being inundated by kids and parents seeing if we can get some deals on electronics, now the kids have somewhere to stay they want their Wii's, DS's, IPods and xBox's. Trying to see what I can do.
I also don't think any of the victims got any Sound Relief tickets, bugger, would have been nice to participate in something put on for the Bushfire Victims. We missed the National Day of Mourning as we were all up here flat out on getting the Village going. Oh well at least Warnie came to visit with Chris Martin.
"Warnie with Todd and Ian, two guys who turned up from Queensland three weeks ago and haven't stopped working as Volunteers on the ground"
They should be finished today and hopefully we will have them inhabited very quickly. I am trying to work out what we do with furniture but hopefully that is in hand. We have a really cool laundry facility which came from Leightons, I think.
Spent quite a bit of time over the long weekend with Andrew Forrest and his team, they really got in amongst the locals, and delivered plenty of action combined with compassion. All of the Portable Chalets from Fortescue Metals are now in place and looking good. We can't thank Andrew enough for his drive, dynamism and delivery.
"Andrew Forrest with Crash, the man behind Crashtown"
"Andrew Forrest with Lynette and her son, some of the first residents in our Village"
John Burgess and I visited Marysville yesterday, they are moving quickly to establish a temporary village. They have a great area across from the golf club which has power and plumbing and it should receive its first portable chalets (the mobile homes formerly known as Dongas) this week. The marysville guys seem to be hitting their straps and things are on the move there as well.
My other big problem is that I am being inundated by kids and parents seeing if we can get some deals on electronics, now the kids have somewhere to stay they want their Wii's, DS's, IPods and xBox's. Trying to see what I can do.
I also don't think any of the victims got any Sound Relief tickets, bugger, would have been nice to participate in something put on for the Bushfire Victims. We missed the National Day of Mourning as we were all up here flat out on getting the Village going. Oh well at least Warnie came to visit with Chris Martin.
"Warnie with Todd and Ian, two guys who turned up from Queensland three weeks ago and haven't stopped working as Volunteers on the ground"
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Getting organised for Donations
Sorry for the late post today, things have been pretty frantic. We are just putting the final touches to a new website. http://www.flowerdalerelief.com
We have set up the site for people to pledge donations or to offer goods and services. it has been a rush job but it is looking good. We have to set up formally as a charity and then get a permit from Consumer Affairs to ask for cash donations which may take a little time but we decided to get the ball rolling and ask for pledges which we can follow up. We have already received donations via the pub, friends of residents, the Deloitte Foundation. We need money to be able to ensure we can maintain the food supply and also get the things we need for the Temporary Village. John Burgess is on SBS insights tonight @ 7.30pm and it seemed the right time to launch our own relief effort. The funds will be administered by the Deloitte Foundation to ensure that donations are spent on the right things.
If you run a website or blog a link would be great.
As part of our ethos in the Flowerdale Recovery Team we have decided that rather than wait for things to be formally organised via the relief fund we would get on and do it ourselves.
Water Tanks being put in place
Major General Cantwell, VBRRA, and Craig Lapsley, DHS, talk through the plans for the temporary village with Flowerdale Recovery Team
We have set up the site for people to pledge donations or to offer goods and services. it has been a rush job but it is looking good. We have to set up formally as a charity and then get a permit from Consumer Affairs to ask for cash donations which may take a little time but we decided to get the ball rolling and ask for pledges which we can follow up. We have already received donations via the pub, friends of residents, the Deloitte Foundation. We need money to be able to ensure we can maintain the food supply and also get the things we need for the Temporary Village. John Burgess is on SBS insights tonight @ 7.30pm and it seemed the right time to launch our own relief effort. The funds will be administered by the Deloitte Foundation to ensure that donations are spent on the right things.
If you run a website or blog a link would be great.
As part of our ethos in the Flowerdale Recovery Team we have decided that rather than wait for things to be formally organised via the relief fund we would get on and do it ourselves.
Water Tanks being put in place
Major General Cantwell, VBRRA, and Craig Lapsley, DHS, talk through the plans for the temporary village with Flowerdale Recovery Team
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