My sympathies to all those affected, my respect to the Emergency services trying to battle it
from ABC article
www.abc.net.au/news/2009-02-08/dig-deep-for-bushfire-victims-australians-urged/287748The Victorian Premier John Brumby has launched a Bushfire Appeal Fund to help the victims of the more than 400 bushfires which have swept across the state.
The Victorian Government and the Federal Government will donate $4 million to the appeal, in addition to the $10 million announced earlier today by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
The 2009 Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund will be set up in conjunction with the Red Cross and will collect cash donations and distribute aid to help bushfire affected communities.
Mr Brumby has urged people to dig deep to help people affected.
"We all grieve with you. So many families; families like yours and mine, now have to rebuild," he said.
"I can promise that we will not stop until you are safe and your lives and communities have been rebuilt."
To contribute to the fund, people can call Red Cross on 1800 811 700.People affected by the bushfires will also be able to apply for payments as part of the $10 million disaster relief fund set up by the Federal Government.
The money will go to people who were seriously injured or hospitalised, and to those who have lost their homes.
Eligible adults will receive $1,000, and an additional $400 payment will be made per child.
Mr Rudd announced the fund while touring fire-affected areas of country Victoria.
He told reporters in the fire-ravaged Yarra Valley that Centrelink payments are available immediately for anyone needing assistance.
More appeals
Major Brad Halse from the Salvation Army says his organisation has set up its own fire appeal.
"We're doing everything we can to support the firies on the ground," he said.
"We have many teams out feeding them when they come off the front line for breaks. We're trying to assist in that way as part of our normal process.
"In terms of the immediate response and recovery for the victims we've set up an appeal which is meant to complement and supplement whatever the state and federal governments can do."
He says most money raised from the appeal will go to direct cash grants to people as they are registered through the Red Cross, and a small amount will cover the expenses of having emergency services teams on the front line.
"If people have lost their homes as so many - potentially hundreds of families - will have, then we'd like to come alongside and simply act as a conduit for others in the community who are ringing us and saying we'd like to give some money to these families," he said.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Simon Ramsay says the federation has recieved calls offering help with generators, pumps, fuel and fodder.
"We're actually using our local reps to start sourcing what might be available in the way of donations, whether it might be hay or something else, and they're doing that as we speak," he said.
"We've got regional managers out there visiting farmers who might be burnt or are financially strapped."
families burnt to death it's some seriously scary stuff.
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