District 9790 Bushfire Recovery Newsletter No 3 June 30, 2020

Hello Rotarians and friends
 
As we prepare for a new Rotary year and celebrate the achievements of clubs during 2019-2020, District Bushfire Recovery Projects continue to be ratified; some completed while others are in various stages of planning and implementation. 
 

AIR PURIFIER PROJECT FOR ALPINE HEALTH   

Mark Lucey and Nick Shaw, Corporate
Services Manager Alpine Health
 
A project of the Rotary Clubs of Mount Beauty, Myrtleford and Bright has been
successfully completed thanks to the additional financial support from the Rotary Clubs of Heidelberg,
Yarrawonga-Mulwala, Freemantle WA and the District Bushfire Recovery Fund.
 
Forty-five air purifiers have been delivered to Myrtleford for distribution to hospitals and aged care facilities in the region.
Mark Lucey, President of the Rotary Club of Myrtleford reported;  “The success of this project showcases that a collaborative approach between clubs and district can deliver far greater scale than the initial concept ever anticipated.”
 

FODDER AND PELLET FEED

The Rotary Club of Kinglake Ranges has provided another semi-trailer load of dairy pellets for distribution to farmers in the Upper Murray.
 

SHIPPING CONTAINERS

All fifteen shipping containers (provided by District 9800 at a cost of only $500/container to our district) have been delivered to Upper Murray property owners.  Another twenty one containers organised through the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) are expected to be delivered on the weekend of July 11-12.
 

WALWA BUSH NURSING CENTRE PROJECT

The Walwa Bush Nursing Centre, which provides community health and well-being services for the Walwa and Jingellic area, suffered fire damage to the kitchen and cool room as mentioned in a previous newsletter.  The Rotary Club of Heidelberg, with assistance from the Rotary Club of Ivanhoe and the Bushfire Recovery Fund will fund this project.
 

CUDGEWA FIRE PROJECT

At the height of the bushfires in January, the town of Cudgewa suffered greatly.  The loss of the power supply and a lack of water hampered the Cudgewa Fire Brigade’s ability to contain and extinguish the fires surrounding the town.  Property loss resulted.  The Rotary Clubs of Rosanna and Mooroopna are assisting the community of Cudgewa to be better prepared in the future.   A 130,000 water tank and a diesel generator will be provided to ensure a permanent water and electricity supply.

FENCING

The Blaze Aid camp at Tooma has continued to operate, where hundreds of kilometres of fencing is to be removed and rebuilt.  The volunteer fencers are predominately overseas back packers, so the camp has remained active during the COVID pandemic. The camp has been supported by the Rotary Clubs of Albury North and Holbrook.  The District Bushfire Fund has assisted with the purchase of warm clothing and protective gear, for the volunteers, who were ill-prepared for the extreme winter conditions of the area.       
The Uniting Church fencing team in Cudgewa and a Blaze Aid team in both Jingellic and Corryong have recommenced after the COVID -19 break.
The Rotary Club of Tallangatta provided funds for a fencing team over the long weekend in June.
 

CORRYONG FOODSHARE

The District Bushfire Fund will financially support the Corryong FoodShare Services, which has been stretched as a result of the increasing number of clients from the Upper Murray requiring their assistance for food parcels, clothing, linen, blankets, furniture, white goods and water pods.
 

QUILTS

Beautiful handmade quilts, donated by the Cobram Quilters have been delivered to the Rotary Club of Corryong for distribution.
 
John Anders, Melissa Dally (RC Corryong), Raynor Thomas and Trish Anders (Cobram Quilters)
Marg Crisp (AG Group 9) at Colac Colac Caravan Park
 
 
Matching grants for Upper Murray projects are available for clubs in D9790 to work with a club in D9800. 
Possible project discussions are currently taking place. 
 
 
 
PDG Bernie Bott, Chairman
District 9790 Bushfire Recovery Committee