Locals turn out in force for bushfire support

A generous response to bushfire relief in Wangaratta saw hundreds of emergency packs prepared by local residents on Saturday night. Wangaratta Seventh Day Adventist Church in Phillipson Street again served as a base for the activity, which was coordinated by Carboor resident Jan Mitchell. "We thought at this stage we'd stick to emergency shower packs, both for fire victims and for first-line responders who have been working so hard on the fire grounds," Jan said. "So we got our heads together and opened it to the public via Facebook, not knowing how people would respond. "We had 150 cars come through, and people were lined up at the door with donations or wanting to help." Donations requested included towels, face washers and items like soap, shampoo, deodorant, band-aids and sanitary products. "There was a lot of great smiling and talking as people went about putting the packs together to help others going through tough times," Jan said. "People came in with bags full of items and generous hearts, and wanted to be part of it. "The community really took ownership." Several local businesses, as well as the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, also provided donations. The bushfire support followed the well-received free pop-up op shops and Christmas hamper project initiated by the SDA church last year, which have enabled many locals from within and outside the church to channel their spirit of giving. While the initial plan was to create 50 to 100 emergency shower packs on Saturday night, Jan said the group ended up preparing 450, many of which have been passed on to the Seymour relief centre. She said following this initial project, the church would look to possibly coordinate other avenues of support, including gathering food, clothing and furniture for those impacted by bushfires. "Once the fires are gone, there's going to be hundreds of people in strife," she said. "We’ll ease through the next few days and sort things out, but we are at the point of the disaster where there are oodles of people who want to help, and this will keep rolling on for months. "I feel like we've just started the race. "I think Wangaratta's such a great place to do things like this; I've been involved in a lot of things over the years, and you really do get a chance to see the best of people."

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