I have calmed down a great deal since my last post.
I am still overwhelmed by the enormity of what has happened in my state but I have calmed down so much.
Now I am amazed by the charity of people in Australia - and for that matter, the world.
So far $45.5 million has been raised. The thing I have found the most overwhelming was hearing from families in far north Queensland who are flooded out of their houses saying they had nothing to worry about. They would give any money to "those poor buggers in Victoria".
According to an announcement over the PA system at school, Friday is a statewide charity day in all Government schools. That's pretty coordinated.
I have heard that 6000 new people have volunteered to donate blood. I have also heard that the number of people volunteering for the fire fighters and other emergency services has increased dramatically.
I feel that despite the overwhelming sadness there are some amazing and beautiful things happening.
3 comments:
It's lovely to see how we have all pulled together to help. Even those with nothing are doing their bit. Today many people paid for their groceries and said put the change (from a $5, a $10, a $20) in the donations fund. One little girl put in 20 cents when she saw her mum putting in a couple of dollars.
You didn't mention how lovely people have been at out school....
I told people about my friend and her son who were totally burnt out. All they had was their cat, dog and the clothes they had on them.
This Saturday I'll be driving down to Traralgon with at least 20 bags full of clothes and other things for them. (People are still calling me and planning to bring extra things in before Saturday.) Give people a face and a story and they are SO willing to give. It's lovely.
It's amazing how people can pull together in the face of tragedy. I hope you don't mind, but I forwarded your email to about 30 people and many of them made donations to try and help.
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