IN a heartfelt display of community support, the Ararat Rotary Club has reached out to Pomonal\u2019s Resilience Community Group, providing relief to those affected by the devastating fires earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Last Thursday saw the handover of debit cards funded by over $20,000 raised to assist residents who lost everything.<\/p>\n
The initiative was part of Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS), a program dedicated to helping communities in need across the country.<\/p>\n
Anthony Ohlsen, the district foundation chairman, explained the process to the Ararat Advocate.<\/p>\n
\u201cA project is put forward, and in this case, it was the western district fires. People and clubs donated money to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The cards, which residents can use for whatever they need, offer a lifeline to those still reeling from the aftermath of the fires.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ararat branch has been the conduit,\u201d Mr Ohlsen said, noting the significant work that local Rotarian Peter Oddie and others put in to make the project possible.<\/p>\n
In addition to the financial support, RAWCS also played a role in providing hay for farmers affected by the fires, covering the costs of fuel for transport.<\/p>\n
The broad efforts reflect Rotary\u2019s commitment to making a difference in both practical and immediate ways.<\/p>\n
Peter Cody, a member of the Ararat Rotary Club, said it was a small way of Rotarians helping out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t going to rebuild their houses, but it\u2019s nice to be able to do something positive for the people who have suffered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jill Miller, a member of Pomonal\u2019s Resilience Community Group, expressed her gratitude for the support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is for people who have lost a home, people who lost everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
With 24 homes destroyed in the fire, the aid is being distributed per adult to ensure everyone affected gets support.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing into the end of winter, it\u2019s just fabulous, perfect timing,\u201d Ms Miller said.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the recovery process, the community had identified vouchers for essentials like fuel, clothing, and groceries as a keyway to help those impacted.<\/p>\n
The new debit cards now offer residents the flexibility to address their unique needs as they continue to rebuild their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank Rotary deeply. It will be good to get them out to people,\u201d Ms Miller said.<\/p>\n
Story by Ellen Anderson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IN a heartfelt display of community support, the Ararat Rotary Club has reached out to Pomonal\u2019s Resilience Community Group, providing relief to those affected by the devastating fires earlier this year.
\nLast Thursday saw the handover of debit cards funded by over $20,000 raised to assist residents who lost everything.
\nThe initiative was part of Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS), a program dedicated to helping communities in need across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[31],"class_list":["post-2506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG_6280-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdqUu4-Eq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2506"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}