During the last catastrophic bush fires that burned large parts of Australia the Australian Macedonian Council of NSW together with the Macedonian community took initiative to organise several fundraising activities across NSW. The fundraising occurred over Macedonian Orthodox Christmas and Australia Day. Number of community members gave up their family time to help for this good cause.
Some of the Macedonian orthodox churches at this festive season were places for worship and collection points where parishioners and members of the community made donations. Australia Day Maso Cup was another event where these activates continued.
There was also an online fundraising action set through goFundme page.These efforts culminated in the collecting of $16,500 by the AMCNSW. The collected donations were disbursed to five Rural Fire Service stations across NSW (including Bundeena, Queanbeyan, Shoalhaven,Hunter Valley and Talbingo) on behalf of the Macedonian community.
These funds were used by the Rural Fire Service stations to purchase firefighting equipment and to help aid firefighting efforts. Upon receiving these donations by cheque and equipment , firefighters stated that the funds and the equipment donated by the Macedonian community were both necessary and very much welcome.
Captain Troy Dillon & Lindsey Flynn from Bundeena RFS have personaly praised the Macedonian Community for the kind generosity and donation . They have used the equipment.
Bundeena RFS NSW Station 23 were proud recipients of two Stihl MS 462C chain saws & 2 BR700 blowers, which where proudly donated by Australian Macedonian Council of NSW Inc & Australian Macedonian community.
Bundeena RFS using the donated Firefighting Equipment during preventative “backburning” at Bangor NSW
Visibly excited by the generosity of the Macedonians, John Scott (the Captain of the Talbingo Rural FireService station) sincerely thanked the AMCNSW for the donation and said that these funds will be essential in allowing them to purchase professional protective respiratory masks and similar equipment. He pointed out that the firefighters worked extended hours, occasionally for days on end, in difficult conditions. They fought with flames that were 300 feet high and that were further ignited by strong winds and generally unfavourable conditions, it was at this point that the remaining residents ofTalbingo voluntarily and selflessly helped in putting out the bushfires there.
Talbingo Rural Fire Services with the cheque
Talbingo, located on the slopes of the Snowy Mountains against a backdrop of astonishingly beautiful nature, is considered to be a Macedonian village by the Macedonian community of NSW. About a dozen of the houses there belong to Macedonians. Notwithstanding the difficult and extraordinary conditions brought on by COVID-19, the selflessness of the volunteers from the AMCNSW enabled what can only be described as a successful initiative.
“We thank all the donors: the families, the individuals, the Macedonian Orthodox Churches in NewSouth Wales, the social and cultural organisations that donated to this charity drive. We thank them for their trust and generosity. Cooperation and collaboration is a guide to a successful Macedonian community, thoroughly integrated into Australian society” said the Chairman of the Australian Macedonian Council of NSW – Mr. Joshua Sherman.
Australian Macedonian Council of NSW- Zakilna Mihajlova, Vangel Radev
