This is a joint release from Macedon Ranges Shire Council and Macedon Ranges Community Enterprises.
Macedon Ranges communities will benefit from a secure, centralised method of accepting emergency-related donations, through a collaboration led by Council and Macedon Ranges Community Enterprises (MRCE).
The emergency relief fund has been established within the Community Enterprise Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bendigo Bank, and will channel donations from the public into projects that address community needs and priorities.
The fund is governed by an appeal committee, comprising representatives from Council, MRCE, and local health and emergency recovery organisations. The committee can activate an appeal for donations for any emergency event where community members are significantly impacted (not dependent on the declaration of a 'declared emergency').
Funds raised will be distributed to affected communities in a timely, considered and coordinated way, mitigating the chance of opportunistic scams and targeting support to the areas that matter most during and after an emergency.
CEO of MRCE, Jo-ann Irwin, said that the emergency relief fund will ensure any donations received in response to an emergency will be responsibly managed to ensure maximum community benefit.
"When emergencies happen, people want to help. This appeal gives them a trusted way to do that, so help can flow quickly to affected communities," she said.
Council's Mayor Kate Kendall said the initial concept for this appeal was instigated in 2015 following the identified need for somewhere that people and businesses could donate to a community after an emergency.
Thankfully, our local appeal hasn't yet been activated in the Macedon Ranges, but since its initial conception, the model has spread around Victoria and Australia, most notably used after large bushfires including the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-20," Mayor Kendall said.
"The renewal and relaunch of this appeal in the Macedon Ranges will hold us in good stead for future emergencies, where there may be an urgent need for short or long-term support and where people – whether local or otherwise – just want to contribute in some way."
The Terms of Reference for the Macedon Ranges Community Response Appeal Committee were finalised this month. The committee will sit as part of a recovery subcommittee of the Macedon Ranges Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committee.
MRCE operates Community Bank Gisborne & District, a franchise of Bendigo Bank, and is a volunteer-led, profit-for-purpose, accredited social enterprise, giving back 80% of profits back to the Macedon Ranges community.
Pictured are (from L to R): Macedon Ranges Community Enterprises CEO Jo-ann Irwin, Council's Mayor Kate Kendall, Macedon Ranges Community Enterprises Board Chair Mal Carter, and Council's CEO Bernie O'Sullivan.
