Australia Needs Your Help

Gordon Ryley

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Following the Sydney Morning Herald daily advice on where to send donations who needs
the help first. I am in contact with my life long friend in outer Melbourne not as bad as
NSW. The logistics are difficult for Aus of where to start and for the Voc members who to
help first close friends Velo owners our club friends Vin owners or Firemen lost to familys and people who have lost homes.
 

Martyn Goodwin

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
There are a number of folk reaching out to their areas of contact , raising funds to help those impacted by the ongoing bushfires in Australia. Already the OVR Bushfire Appeal has received almost Aus$6,000 thanks to the generosity of the VOC and OVR communities.

But unfortunately the Australian 'Fire Season" has not ended - it has only just started with fears of more intense fires to come this season. Here is an update on the present situation, an extract from the Australian TV news on Jan 12.

 

Martyn Goodwin

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Update from National TV Jan 15.

Separate fires have merged into Mega Blazes, and with over 80% of the east cost bee population wiped out fresh food production is expected to be impacted for a number of years - forecast is price rises of 50% within a short time.

 

Martyn Goodwin

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Cooler weather has arrived in Northern Australia. The Gold Coast in Queensland has had a massive water dump, in some areas the first rain in over 4 years but more is needed before the drought can be said to have broken.

Unfortunately all this rain is not falling in the southeast corner of Australia where the fires continue to rage.

Here is a short grab from the evening news of Jan 18.

The Gold Coast that they mention is around 1,750Km from the fires still burning in south eastern Australia. That's about the distance from London to Tallinn in Estonia or from New York to Arkansas!

 

Martyn Goodwin

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Here is a statement from the Australian Weather Bureau - helps put into perspective the dire state of the country and in part explain why the fires this season are so bad. Drought linked with high temperatures means the countryside is tinder dry.


and here is a just in review of what happened out side of Sydney.

 
Last edited:

Magnetoman

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
I returned Friday from ten days in Australia where the air quality predictions were remarkably inaccurate, changing significantly even within an hour. Melbourne "should" have had reasonable air the two days I was there according to the app but, as the attached screenshot shows, it was 'hazardous.' The haze was so thick Wednesday morning I could have stared directly at the dimly glowing red sun as it rose had I wanted to. Sydney was better when I was there, but still with haze and the smell of smoke, as was Brisbane. It doesn't show up very well in the photograph, but the words projected on the side of the Sydney Opera House thank the 'Firies' (fire fighters), not the fires.

My days were pretty full so I managed to see only one of the three VOC members I had hoped to on this trip. However, if this were baseball, a 333 average would be considered very good.
Melbourne_air.jpg
Sydney_opera.jpg
 

Martyn Goodwin

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Screen Shot 01-23-20 at 12.58 PM.PNG


Screen Shot 01-23-20 at 12.22 PM.PNG


When I started the OVR bushfire appeal it was my clear statement that 100% of all donations would go to assist victims of the bushfire disasters – and I indicated that to ensure this I would pass your donations onto the Australian Red Cross – but I am no longer prepared to do so as it seems less than 30% will be distributed to those victims currently in need.

In the last hours there has been media coverage in Australia around the distribution of bushfire relief donations received by the Australian Red Cross. A spokesperson for the Red Cross confirmed that 10% of all donations is reserved for their internal administration costs and it was further revealed that only 30% of the remaining funds was planned to be used to provide immediate relief to bushfire victims. Red Cross also announced they will only provide assistance to individuals. No assistance for any small businesses, no assistance for wildlife rescue or shelters, no assistance for farmers, no assistance for property lost or damaged, no assistance to those brave volunteer Firefighters. And apparently almost 70% of the bush fire relief donations Red Cross receive will be ‘reserved’ by them for up to 3 years.

SO ……

Half to the Firefighters, Half to Wildlife Rescue
I will be donating approx. half of the money received from you to the volunteer Wildlife Shelter in Mallacoota run by Sue Johns that was ravaged by recent fires – if you want to make any donations direct to the shelter , they are on Facebook as “SA John’s Wildlife Shelter” or visit their facebook page by CLICKING HERE. Their aim is to care for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife and rehabilitate and release them back into the wild.

I will be donating the balance of your generous donations directly to the Country Fire Authority Fire Station at Bruthen, a community in East Gippsland devastated by the fires, where 100% will go directly to help those brave and selfless firefighting volunteers and their local community.

When
I will be distributing the entire balance of the OVR Bushfire Appeal on February 1, 2020. All donations received after that date will be distributed at the end of month.

Want to Help
If you are moved to make a donation to the OVR bushfire appeal it is not too late to do so – and there is no lower limit as every Dollar, Euro, Pound or whatever will help. Make your donation by PayPal to ozvinreview@gmail.com with the note ‘bushfire appeal’.

Not Happy
If you have made a donation to the OVR Bushfire Appeal and are unhappy about my donation distribution decision please contact me directly by email no later than January 30 and I will direct 100% of the funds you have donated to the Australian Red Cross.

Thank you for your generosity.

Martyn Goodwin, Editor, The Oz Vincent Review.
email to ozvinrview@gmail.com
 

TouringGodet

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
VOC Forum Administrator
VOC Forum Moderator
That kind of revelation about the low percentage of donations used by the Red Cross for a particular disaster made the rounds in regards to the US Red Cross, years ago. I think it first gained notoriety in the US after one of the big hurricanes/floods, maybe New Orleans? Looks like it may be a universal policy for that organization globally.
 

Martyn Goodwin

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Here is the latest update on the situation in Australia.

The first two, very short videos talk about the impact of the current 3 year drought. The last, harrowing video is an overview of this seasons fires, up till Mid-Jan 2020. 100's of fires are still raging - its not over yet.

Up first - Drought: Water Shortages

Next - Drought: Impact on Livestock


The story of this seasons Australian fires - and there is over 100 fires like these still burning, it's not over yet!

 

Magnetoman

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
For the record, I was in Australia two weeks ago and donated money directly to a local animal rescue effort in one of the locations I visited outside Melbourne. I'll be back in Australia again at the end of the month and certainly will be donating again, probably to a local human-related effort this time.
 
Top