A group of volunteers and staff from the NRMA and Frontier Services have been working with the people of Bumbalong, near Colinton, to aid in the community's ongoing recovery from the Black Summer bushfires.
Brought together with assistance from Snowy Monaro Regional Council's Community Recovery team, the group have been building fences, mending cars, trucks, tractors, and whipper snippers and putting together a new shed for the use of the Bumbalong Valley community and RFS Brigade.
"When Frontier Services and the NRMA reached out to our Community Recovery team looking to volunteer their help in our region, we were grateful to be able to connect them with the people of Bumbalong," said Mayor Peter Beer, Snowy Monaro Regional Council.
"These selfless people have travelled from across the state to work long, hard hours for days on end - rebuilding and repairing a small community that was left devastated after the Black Summer fires."
"We owe these volunteers a deep debt of gratitude."
Volunteers from the NRMA worked tirelessly - not content with reviving decades-old community fire vehicles, replacing suspension in paddock bashing utes and getting reacquainted with carburettors - but when they were through with the mechanical work, got stuck into fencing, painting, metalwork and countless other jobs.
Frontier Services volunteers and staff likewise put on an incredible show of generosity and hard work, working across construction, fencing, painting, and more than could be named. The organisation's expertise in organising and executing volunteer programs like this made it all possible.
Engaging person-to-person with communities in recovery is just as important as helping them with the practical realities of rebuilding. There are stories of heartbreak and tragedy from one end of this small valley to the other, and rebuilding a community and its people's lives takes more than brick and mortar alone.
Council wishes to extend its deepest gratitude to Frontier Services and the NRMA for all their efforts and for thinking of the Snowy Monaro when looking for somewhere to help, for both this event in Bumbalong and their earlier trip to Rockton in April 2021.
Council also wishes to commend our own Community Recovery team for their tireless work helping the region repair, rebuild and recover after disaster.
