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.
