The Mayor, Councillors and Chief Executive Officer of the City of Greater Geelong wish to express their sincere condolences as a council to the many communities who have been impacted by the tragic and devastating fires across Victoria and Australia.
We also wish to express our gratitude to those fighting fires and the many thousands of people involved in the relief and recovery activities, across Victoria and NSW especially.
We will continue to support our local community with information to channel generous donations to disaster appeals and we stand ready to provide support as required.
We know our generous community want to show their support too. Monetary donations are most desirable, as they are received immediately and provide far more flexibility than donations of goods. A list of bushfire disaster appeals people can donate to is included below.
We stand ready to offer any assistance requested by the state government and any other agencies or councils. It is important that we work in a coordinated manner to ensure the most effective contribution in this crisis.
City of Greater Geelong Mayor, Cr Stephanie Asher:
My fellow councillors and I express our sincere and heartfelt sympathy to all those impacted by the devastating bushfires that are raging across Victoria, NSW and other parts of the country.
The magnitude of this bushfire crisis is beyond comprehension. We are devastated for all those affected, and most especially for those families who have lost loved ones. We acknowledge and thank all of the brave people who have spent days and weeks tirelessly fighting the many fires that have been relentless in their onslaught.
We know that our local community is feeling the losses suffered by their fellow Australians and share their grief over the devastation that has been wrought on people, wildlife and property. We encourage our local community to donate to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal or other registered charities. Cash donations are much needed by firefighting, relief and recovery agencies.
Our focus now should be on preparedness and prevention, making sure we are fire ready and ensuring we are doing everything we can to minimise fire risk. We are still considering a number of practical ways we can support affected communities and we welcome ideas from the community.
