A friend in Melbourne took the day off to head to the volunteer station to try help out with the fire relief effort and, for family reasons, he expended his efforts at the Salvation Army clothes disposal centre, sorting stuff donated for those who have lost everything in the bushfires. People who ran away from their houses with only the clothes they had on. [And as the temp was 48degrees, that wouldn't have been much.]
When they came back to see or hear of the bad news, everything they had, gone. In flames, in a furnace, burnt away to ash. Except for hope, and faith in the basic goodness of human beings.
This has had a massive effect on the people of Victoria. This is the biggest, baddest thing ever.
While he was there, a call came out to all the Salvo centres. We need suits. Urgently, all sizes...
Suits? Why the blessed lord are suits needed?
Ah...
A pause.
People will have to go to... funerals.
They have nothing to wear. Their clothes were lost, with everything else, their good clothes as well. Suits, please, to wear to the funerals of their loved ones, of their friends, of their families...
OK...
Suits. Suits coming up.
Within only a few hours hundreds of offers of suits came in from the good people of Australia.
Take this suit.
Respect and love to those who did not survive. Remember these days of loss.
E@L
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2 comments:
this made me cry, darlin...love and respect is right. too much death in too many places.
Less than a week after the tragedy, relief centres have had to ask for people to STOP donating goods. They simply have more than they can possibly use.
The relief appeal has reached $80Million AUD with events, concerts, sport and other fund-raisers planned over the next month it will continue to rise.
Even with the sadness of the death toll and destruction along with the smoke from the fires which has decended on Melbourne today (it really is quite bad but only miniscule when compared with the areas affected), the response from the entire country has made me PROUD TO BE AN AUSTRALIAN.
If there is something we really do well, amongst all the stuff we're shit at, it is pitching in to help a mate in trouble even if we don't know him personally.
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