City rallies for bushfire victims

Published on 04 March 2020

Last Tuesday night I was pleased to present more than $125,000 in bushfire relief raised by our City over the past two months.

As the bushfire emergency began to worsen in December, it became clear that we had a special opportunity at our Illuminate family New Year’s Eve event to come together as a community and make a real difference in the recovery efforts.

With homes and lives being lost, Council made the decision to support the families of Horsley Park Rural Fire Service volunteers Geoffrey Keaton and Andrew O’Dwyer, as well as The Salvation Army’s Disaster Relief Appeal and RSPCA NSW’s Bushfire Appeal. Council donated the ticket price of all tickets sold at Illuminate, took up a collection at the event and worked closely with local clubs and associations to raise the money.

The generosity continued throughout January with residents adding further donations at our libraries and leisure centres. I would like to thank everyone who supported this fundraiser by attending Illuminate or donating to the collection, including the clubs and businesses in Fairfield City that made substantial contributions. As an added gesture, we have raised banners across the City thanking Horsley Park RFS and all the firies for their hard work across this difficult season.

It was wonderful to see the whole community coming together to help the families of the RFS officers, and the people and animals affected by the bushfires. I hope that this money will go some way to alleviating the tragedy of the recent bushfire emergency.

The success of the fundraiser at Illuminate was due in no small part to the army of volunteers from the Leo Club of Cabramatta High School and Leo Club of Canley Vale High School. I thank them for their participation in this fundraiser.

Community efforts like this make me proud to be Mayor of such a wonderfully caring and generous City.