The scenes of devastation and suffering following the recent NSW floods have saturated our TV news reports.
First-hand Witnesses
Dharma Care is based near Murwillumbah in northern NSW and our retreat centre – Sine Cera Rainforest Retreat – is located a couple of hours away just north of Kyogle. Both shires were badly affected.
So, we have been first-hand witnesses to this disaster; we have shovelled out tonnes of mud from the homes of friends and community members.
Fortunately, Dharma Care property was not damaged.
Supporting Flood-Affected Families
Dharma Care is focussed on supporting destitute and disadvantaged families, children and the elderly, so we were able to quickly load a page to our website to enable donations to support affected families.
To date we have raised over $21,000 to purchase gift vouchers from local businesses and some major retailers. The vouchers will support families in both Tweed and Kyogle Shires who are in desperate need of basics like food, petrol, linen, mattresses, electrical appliances and other household goods.
Our Collaborators
To do this, we have collaborated with our good friends at Pottsville Beach Neighbourhood Centre (for Tweed families) and Kyogle Together Neighbourhood Centre (for Kyogle families).
These grassroots community organisations have been identifying the needs of families in their shires and are working with us to ensure that the generosity of our donors goes to where it is most needed.
The Ongoing Nightmare
Many of these families have lost everything. Many are homeless.
For these families, the full realisation of their situation is only now starting to dawn on them. The immediate aftermath was all about cleaning up. Now it is the hard yards of putting their lives back together and coping with the reality of day-to-day living.
In some cases, this will take years.
Donate to Provide Continuing Support
One thing that is clear: although $20,000 is a generous contribution to this cause, it is a drop in the bucket compared to the scale of the need.
We are therefore seeking further donations.
If you feel you can help, you can visit our project web page to make a tax-deductible donation. Please email us at info@dharmacare.org.au so we can send you a receipt.
Thank You
And finally, we would like to sincerely thank our donors.
It is your generosity that enables our endeavours and fills our hearts with gratitude.
There are a lot of problems and uncertainties out there at the moment, but we can assure you the human instinct to help each other in tough times is alive and well.
Irwan Wyllie, CEO, Dharma Care