Bendigo Bank’s Mark Nolan with HICCI’s Kerri Goding and Brad Friend from Healesville Salvation Army.
By Kath Gannaway
RECIPIENTS of $1million from the Bendigo Bank Community Enterprise Foundations’ Bushfire Appeal gathered in Healesville in January to report on what their particular grants had achieved.
Mark Nolan, Bendigo Bank regional manager for Yarra Ranges met with representatives of groups which received funding for projects as diverse as a specialised burns unit for wildlife to a youth music project shipping containers and counselling services.
Mr Nolan said the Bushfire Recovery Presentation held at Healesville RSL on 28 January came a year after the bank met to support the fire-affected communities.
“This presentation comes after months of working with local communities to determine the best use of funds generously donated to the appeal,” he said.
Funds went to Yarra Ranges Council for meditation counselling and the volunteer fencing, Yarra Glen playground and Through the Eyes of a Child programs.
Other organisations to benefit included the Salvation Army, Help for Wildlife, HICCI, Victorian Animal Aid, the Yarra Glen Art Show, Women in Horticulture, Yarra Valley Tourist Railway and Yarra Valley Practitioners Group.
HICCI executive officer Kerri Goding said the funding had been crucial to the development of a multi-agency project which identified people who may be vulnerable in a disaster. “It is not just about identifying vulnerable people, but helping them make their disaster plan, securing cheap rates for accommodation if people need to move out of their home and other areas of assistance,” Ms Goding said. The Yarra Valley Practitioners Group was established shortly after the fires with practitioners volunteering their time to provide free counselling, health and business support in bushfire affected communities.
YVPG president Karen Dickson said had it not been for the Bendigo Bank funding at that point the project would have been forced to close.
