After the storm event in February our community was supported by amazing generosity from all directions. Not only did hundreds of people volunteer to help others, there were many donating food, equipment and money to help the Mirboo North community.
The Community Foundation set up the Community Recovery Fund in the days immediately following the storm to receive financial donations and target them to our community’s short and medium term recovery. In nine months this fund has received almost $95,000 in donations and more than $40,000 has already gone back into the following community led projects:
$1,500 for Christmas decorations on Ridgway by Jingle in the Boo.
$360 for Community BBQ run by Storm Cell Volunteers in March
$1,500 for plants for ‘Plant Hope’ in March and August
$500 for Open mic event run by the Friends of the Pool in April
$620 for Arts workshops in May
$18,680 for equipment hire for Storm Cell Volunteers in June
$570 towards costs of ‘Safe Sawing in the Boo’ courses, also in June.
$110 for Landcare Plant leaflets
$2000 for Vouchers from Mirboo North Garden Centre for Planting Day in June
$2250 for food and face painting at Community Thank You Party in July
$260 for free tickets to Skazz concert at Winterfest.
$7,900 for Stormbirds program at Mirboo North Primary and Secondary schools in September
$3,200 for youth leadership project to install ping pong table at MN Secondary in October
Sarah Lawless, Gippsland Leadership Program for
‘Safe Sawing in the Boo’.
At the Community Foundation’s recent AGM a number of these grant recipients spoke movingly about their projects and how the funds have helped support a community in recovery. Lexi Andrews, part of the Jingle in the Boo team that received a grant said “it’s been a tough time and we just wanted to bring some extra Christmas spirit to brighten up our town this year.”
Breaking down the donations, there have been:
- more than 40 individual donors giving from $50 to $5,000, many through a ‘go fund me’ campaign.
- many community organisations that ran fundraisers across the region from the Rover Scouts in Drouin to Kilcunda Community Association, from Foster Show to Clay Made market in Meeniyan, as well as local groups like Mirboo North Arts and Mary’s Got Spuds.
- There was a significant donation from Esso Australia of $30,000 which primarily went to the Storm Cell Volunteers to support the completion of their work through contracting professional arborists.
- The largest donation we received was from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change (DEECA) who had commercialised the windfallen wood that they removed from the roadsides as part of the emergency clean up. DEECA realised $47,000 from the sale of timber for milling and timber for firewood and this was then donated to the Mirboo North Community Recovery fund to continue supporting community led recovery into 2025.
“We owe a massive thank you to all of those who have donated to the Community Recovery Fund,” said Ruth Rogan on the night. These individual and organisational donors have enabled projects and events in our community which continue to be a key part of our recovery journey.”
The Community Recovery Fund will continue to provide grant support for recovery programs and events in 2025. If you want to find out more about applying for a grant for a recovery project, we would love to hear from you on info@mirboodistrictfoundation.org.au or drop in to Co-space between 10-3pm at 96 Ridgway.
