Mobilising Volunteers
In a partnership worth more than A$2.4 million, Minderoo Foundation is working with Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) to enable an army of volunteers to support their fellow Australians, as they respond to fire and flood emergencies. DRA comprises military veterans, emergency responders and motivated volunteers.
Volunteers comprise military veterans, emergency responders and other motivated volunteers.
We are working with Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) to deploy volunteers into the field to assist in recovery efforts in disaster-affected regions. In addition to the tasks completed to date, DRA is continuing to work in the Adelaide Hills and will shortly conduct operations in Batlow, New South Wales and potentially Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
To date, they have deployed over 2000 specialised volunteers into the field to help in recovery efforts in disaster-affected regions and will continue to provide services in the future.
Further deployments are scheduled for Willawarrin, New South Wales and Cockcomb in Queensland. As the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic decreases, work will be undertaken in Mallacoota in Victoria.
“The easiest way to define my experience was ‘life-changing’, for so many reasons. It was about seeing the devastation first-hand and seeing how many people’s lives were impacted. It was about being able to do something and give something back, even something so small. I have a young family and to be able to show them about giving too was very important, and the ability to be able to give people some hope was amazing and to see people, and show that you cared and even being able to talk to them, whilst there was a lot of physical activity that went on, it was nice to speak to people because I think people felt alone and lost in amongst the tragedy. It was life-changing for me and I hope it gave some people some hope and comfort in life going forward.”
Craig Spencer, Fire Fund Volunteer
