Proud to be an Aussie / Bushfire donations

[Cobez]

May i just say, i am now even MORE proud to be Australian this week after the PHENOMENAL rate that donations have been pouring into the Red Cross by fellow Aussie's unselfishly helping out other Aussie's in a time of need.

So many homes and lives lost, and it brings a tear to my eye and warms my heart to see Aussie's digging deep and as of this morning, raising 78 MILLION DOLLARS for the bushfire victims. It makes me so so proud to be apart of this great country and even more happy to know that the Aussie spirit is still alive!!

That 78 million was just to / from the Red Cross, Safeway and Coles still have their charity today (all their profits straight to the Red Cross) which should roll in a decent amount, not to mention the massive amount of fundraisers this weekend and weeks to come and extra general public donations.

Also a MASSIVE thanks and respect to ALL the firefighters and staff attending to the fires burning. They are all bloody HERO'S in my books. No matter how small a part they played. And it's great to see the government getting into this and doing a few good things such as donations and apparently now, organising for EVERY family to have an appointed case worker looking after them finance etc wise, so no family is left with no one to help them. Every family will apparently have ONE person who SOLELY looks after THEM and that family will directly contact THAT case worker.

To all the familys that have lost loved ones and homes in the fires, Australia is behind you all the way and we are here to help, we will help you all rebuild your lives even though we cannot make up for the tragic loss of life, you all have a bloody fantastic country backing you up. It will be better soon!!



Everyone post your thanks in this thread, and keep your bullshit about negative Australian culture or any ****weak political crap you feel you should mention OUT OF THIS THREAD. If you post it, it shows how much of a tool you really are. This is a thread for thanks and praise towards firefighters and rescue services, victims and the rest of Australia during the worst week in Australian history.


POST AWAY PEOPLE!

[Lumps of cheese]

Well said. It's great to see the aussie spirit is well and truly alive.

[calaiscruzer]

I'd like to say a BIG THANKYOU to all the CFA volunteers for all their long, tiring hours of effort in participating and controling the massive dangerous fires, and helping fellow australians in this hectic time. Besides the self-satisfaction that these outstanding people instill in theirselves, these services go basically unrewarded besides a pat on the back.

To quote the CFA website:
Unpaid, CFA volunteers provide Victoria with emergency services valued at nearly $1 Billion each year. In addition to saving lives, CFA Volunteers save untold millions of dollars in property, environment and natural resources across Victoria. They protect local economies from devastation and thereby are a key part of protecting the Victorian economy.
And these figures don’t even begin to incorporate the value of CFA volunteers building community capacity for preventing, responding to and recovering from emergencies as part of their own local communities. Nor do they incorporate the contribution of CFA volunteers to local community development whether raising funds for community projects, developing local leadership skills or building community networks for stronger communities.

These men+women are truly heroes- putting in so many countless hours of contributing effort. To be among such people, makes me proud to be an aussie.
KEEP UF THE GREAT WORK FELLAS!

[minux]

Well done Australia, great to see we can band together in times of need.

[vlv8vic]

good work Aust - also nice to see that of the top 10 newest posts in threads 60% were some form of bushfire fund raising. Much better than 'i hate....' threads we're used to.

Keep it up everyone.

[Cobez]

I'll second that! I reckon the bushfire thread is one of the first popular threads that hasn't ended up locked due to bickering and know it all's. Pity it had to be about bushfires though

[Calaber]

My wife and I felt a little guilty - we hadn't made a donation...until this arvo. Saw a collection centre and made up for our slackness. Hope it does some poor soul some good.

Last night during a television telethon, the statement was made that the rate of donations was greater than when the tsunami struck Indonesia a few years back. Well, I guess that's because this was much closer to home. A lot of us live in areas where bushfires could be a real threat and it's easy to see the pain and suffering of your fellow Aussies and think "that could have been me."

It's times like this that being an Aussie is really something to be proud of.

Well done everybody.

[Rufus®]

It's good to see people can pull together in such a way in a disaster. I think everyone who has been involved in these fires, from the fiery's, ses, police, doctors and nurses, vets, councillors, red cross and any one else who has volunteered their time to help out, should be given a good ole ticker tape parade through the city!

I've got to give a big to our local farm supplies, they gave us a nice discount on the stock feed we bought, to send up to the vets / animal shelters up there. all up we bought 5 bags of various feed and a couple of bails of oaten hay and Lucerne hay.

[ClairBear]

Our Company raised a little over $4500 today for the bush fire victims. We had a casual day with a minimum donation of $5 per head. Management matched it dollar for dollar. We also collected unwanted goods from around the house, as so many are now homeless. We were told not to limit it to clothes but animal products and basic toiletry items that people would need. Got a huge mountain over the past week that is being trucked across the border this weekend.

[stocky]

the only disgraceful people during this time are the people stealing the donation tins from places like mcdonalds. heard it happening a few times this week. people like that need to be caught and their face smashed in

[Cobez]

Yeah, that's rather UN-Australian. ****ing low scum.

[ClairBear]

Sadly looting is a way of life following a disaster. It is a very pathetic act and hard to comprehend, but it happens world wide.

Personally I think anyone caught looting should be beaten to a pulp by the victims without retribution from the law.

[Lumps of cheese]

Yeah, smack the pricks with batons. Could there be a lower act than to prey on people who have lost everything?

[vlv8vic]

Let's try and keep this thread at least a slight bit positive - i know people have strong feelings but reserve this one for good and save the pulp bashings for the other threads dedicated to it in the past.

[Jesterarts]

Yeah... make you feel good knowing hwo everyne pulled together to help out...

Also makes me feel good when the hot blonde CFA bird with the tight top and fire pants took my donation with a bounce, smile and giggle... GO CFA!!!

But seriously... massive effort from everyone both on the front lines and those helping in any way they can!!

Cheers!