Blaze Aid for Harcourt

After the recent day of catastrophic weather and resulting bushfires many of us have been praying and finding ways to support those affected. As farms begin the long process of rebuilding, Marilyn Hornsby and Revd Faye Donaldson have been helping out the Blaze Aid camp for Harcourt.

Blaze Aid have trained coordinators who liaise with farmers and local businesses and then organise working teams each day. They do an outstanding job. The people gathered come from different backgrounds. Some come for a day, others for however long they can give. Most of the volunteers start at 7am and hit the sack by 9pm to get ready for another day.

Marilyn is a long-time parishioner of Cohuna. She has been involved in Mothers Union for many years and has been a fund raiser for ABM. Her next project is for Shrove Tuesday; getting a thousand or so pancakes cooked and delivered to businesses around town! As a competent farmer Marilyn has been clearing old boundary fences and helping construct new ones for those farms affected by fires.

Revd Faye has lived an incredible life devoted to Christian ministry in many forms. She currently serves her church and Cohuna community in a variety of ways. She also ventures farther out, travelling around Australia to serve as part of the BCA Nomads. For Blaze Aid Faye has been active in the camp kitchen, helping prepare breakfast, snacks, and sandwiches for the volunteer groups who have been going out daily to restore some order to people’s shattered lives in Harcourt. The teams return covered in ash and dirt but confident in the tasks they have undertaken. They then unwind with a drink and daily tales of how much fencing has been restored. The cooking team make sure they all have a hearty meal.

We give thanks for the service of Faye and Marilyn, for Blaze Aid, the CFA and all those giving their time and energy to support our communities in this period of need.