Spectacular Bushfire Recovery
Bellydance Benefit Concert
The support which all of you gave to the Bushfire Recovery Bellydance Benefit Concert was just wonderful and I thought that you would like to know how the monies raised so far throughout the District,including what you helped to raise, have been spent. The following is the District Report to all Rotarians.
Heather Welsh
The most devastating civil catastrophe in Australian history commenced on 7 February 2009 - the “Black Saturday” fires. Rotary in Victoria and Tasmania responded to the need for assistance and formed a Unified Rotary Districts of Victoria and Tasmania Bushfire Recovery Committee (the Unified Committee).
Immediately after the fires were extinguished, reconstruction and recovery agencies were faced with “battlefield conditions”. It was agreed that while Rotary Clubs became involved in immediate relief work, districts would not rush in to adopt Recovery Projects without ascertaining that they were not duplicating what others were doing. The aim has been to identify “gaps” in recovery activities.
Major matters addressed by Rotary to date have been:
• Reconstruction of fences on rural properties.
• Removal of dangerous trees on private properties.
• Re-survey of property boundaries where markers have been lost.
• Assistance with temporary housing of displaced persons.
• Provision of tools and other equipment to survivors to assist with clean up, recovery, and business activities.
• Cooperation with other agencies on the basis of partnerships advancing community engagement.
• Support for burns survivors and their families.
• Support for work related to treatment of post-traumatic stress being experienced in the survivor communities and education of people in contact with stressed survivors.
Lines of communication have been established with State and Local Government, the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA), and communities in the affected areas. Rotary Clubs located outside bushfire affected areas have been encouraged to establish contacts with Clubs in or near to these areas and has commenced to establish the longer term needs of the affected communities that Rotary has the capacity to address.
A major project for Marysville is being developed which is aimed at supporting recovery of business in the Marysville Community which will improve confidence, create jobs, and provide services to residents living in and around the township. It will involve a Rotary contribution of about $300,000 for the purchase of one of the very few useful buildings (previously an auto museum) remaining in Marysville after the fire and its conversion into a business centre. The required funding is likely to come from districts in Victoria and Tasmania with additional amounts required for fit-out and other related works.
As a result of the District’s somewhat Melbourne-centric nature, we have excellent access to Government and other key agencies. Our Donations In Kind Store has been a very useful tool in bushfire recovery work.
Fundraising for the D9800 Bushfire Recovery was arranged to permit receipt of donations into either a tax deductible account or a non tax deductible account. The tax deductible account is established as a “division” of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation entitled the Rotary International and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation Bush Fire Appeal (known as Rotary Emergency Relief Fund). The non tax deductible element is held in a designated D9800 account known as the RI D9800 Bushfire Recovery Fund. Donations can be made to these Funds in the following ways:
• Transferred to the “Rotary International D 9800 Bushfire Recovery Fund”, BSB Number 013 345, Account Number 2521 12703 (Swift code ANZBAU3M); or
• Cheques mailed to District Treasurer Bernie Gerlinger, 5 Ipydene Court, Chadstone, Victoria 3148, Australia. Letters should be sent to the District Treasurer in cases where Tax Invoices are requested.
The District has concentrated its attention mainly on recovery projects at Eaglehawk and Redesdale, Kinglake / Kinglake West, Marysville, Upper Plenty, Churchill and Callignee. It has also provided support for trauma recovery of bushfire burns survivors and their families through the Burns Survivors’ Network (a division of the K.I.D.S. Foundation).
The work at Eaglehawk has been undertaken by Clubs in the Bendigo area. That work has been concerned with coordination and execution of plot surveys in the Eaglehawk Township which was devastated by fire. Other assistance has been provided in the form of vouchers distributed to needy survivors who required hand tools to assist in personal recovery work (the local purchase of these tools also assisted businesses in the fire affected area).
At Kinglake, the District has entered into an arrangement with Global Care who have established a base at Kinglake. D9800 has supplied Global Care with chainsaws, wood splitters, and fence construction equipment to assist with clearance and reconstruction. A tipper truck has been secure from a Rotary donor for use in conjunction with these tasks. The following two photographs provide some indication of the quality of the equipment provided.
At Upper Plenty, the RC of North Balwyn has carried out fence reconstruction work with the support of Rotarians from Port Lincoln, SA. This cooperation reflected an established bond that originated when the Eyre Peninsula experienced fires some years ago. Other clubs have also been involved in fence construction work.
The Bushfire Recovery Program will not be fully completed within two years of the “Black Saturday” event; it may take four or five years. There will certainly be need for post-traumatic stress related activities for a considerable period of time to come. Funds are still available for application to Rotary supported projects but will be used fairly quickly once major projects get under way.
The building at Marysville to be converted into a Business Centre and equipment supplied to the Kinglake community (click for larger image_)_