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Councils and their residents quick to assist tsunami ravaged communities

As soon as pictures of the devastating tsunami began to dominate television and daily newspapers, Councils and their communities began work on various ways to provide immediate and longer term assistance.

In Fremantle, Council’s Leisure Centre received an overwhelming response after it called for donations to help tsunami victims. Just a small notice on display in the reception area was enough to prompt centre users to give a plethora of donations – clothing, nappies, boxes and bags of food, cooking utensils and more.

Fremantle Leisure Centre Coordinator, John East, said swimming instructors, Laura Lorrigan and Melynda Neale, had approached management to see if a donation box could be placed at the centre.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response – I’m amazed at the generosity of people out there who want to help those who lost everything after the tsunami,” he said.

The Fremantle Leisure Centre has now finished its call for donations with all goods received dispatched for Sri Lanka on Friday 7 January .

In New South Wales, Campbelltown City Council established a Mayor’s Tsunamis Appeal pledging $10,000 to kick start it. The appeal was officially launched at Campbelltown’s giant New Year’s Eve concert – a drug and alcohol free event – where people were invited make cash or credit card donations. In Victoria, Northern Grampians Shire has donated $1.00 per head of population to the Tsunami Red Cross Appeal which will raise $12,846.

“Northern Grampians Shire Council wishes to play its part in giving aid in this terrible human tragedy,” said Mayor Bryan Small. “Donating one dollar for each person in the Shire makes it more personal.”

As a means of helping its young people get involved, Mildura Rural City Council’s Mildura Youth Centre coordinated a graffiti tribute through “tag” messages on the concrete at the local skatepark.

“Tags” could take the form of a name or a short message using aerosols as the medium, enabling local young people to create a graffiti tribute to all those impacted by the disaster.

A gold coin donation to the tsunami appeal was required to leave a “tag” or message. This tribute opportunity ran concurrently with Council’s benefit concert on Sunday 9 January.

Soon after news of the tsunami stated to filter through, some local residents in Manly, New South Wales started telephoning as many pharmacies, hospitals and medical supply companies as possible to ask them to donate urgently needed supplies. The response was overwhelming.

Manly Council provided a central storage and processing centre but the next step was to get these supplies to the affected region as quickly as possible.

When STA Travel learned of this aid initiative, it immediately sponsored a cargo flight to deliver the supplies to doctors in Sumatra. M&A Marketing in North Sydney also stepped in organising a telephone call centre facility.

In Queensland, Rockhampton City Council has established a temporary memorial for the victims of the tsunami disaster. The memorial enables citizens to place their tributes and express their concern and support those struggling to live through the disaster, and to remember those that have lost their lives.

“It is quite incredible to see financial donations mounting rapidly, but some may also need to express their more personal support for the people affected by this horrific event,” said Mayor Margaret Strelow.

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