Today sees the start of a new way of partnering and collaborating for the benefit of community and charitable disaster relief. Mudyala Aboriginal Corporation would like to take the time to reflect and thank everyone that has led to the success of on the ground support.
The team at Good360 Australia, particularly Natasha, who has been an amazing support in coordinating furniture and Manchester donations from Harvey Norman and Sealy Australia, and vouchers from Red Rooster and BIG W. A huge thank you to Dan and his team at headspace Grafton who have kindly provided storage space for us to operate the charitable combined effort. To the South Grafton Rebels SRLFC and Bundjalung Baygal Warriors RLFC men who done all the heavy lifting in getting the furniture into the storage area. Additionally, we would like to recognise financial donations from Surfers for Climate, StreetSmart Australia and Patagonia that have assisted us in covering costs of truck hire and delivery costs to get these incredible donations to families in need.
This massive coordination of support and partnerships have seen families who lost everything gain some piece of normality back into their lives. We know we cannot help everyone, but we help who we can with what we have received.
With new plans and new ways forward in the distribution of goods, Headspace Grafton and Rural Adversity Mental Health Program – RAMHP worker Samantha Osborne are assisting us to set a more practical plan for impacted families to access large scale donations. While we are not a massive organisation or a huge charity, with only 6 workers totaling 3.5 full-time equivalent staff, we rely heavily on our small number of volunteers. We appreciate community patience and will try to help where it is possible.
Thank you again to all partnering organisations and all donors. This is an experience we will not forget and has shown if we are motivated to do so, we can bring big change in a number of lives. Below are photos of headspace and Mudyala assisting two families get basic household furniture. This current furniture donation assisted 5 families, totaling 26 adults and children. We can’t wait to see what’s next!