From the Newsroom

Bags of donated items including non-perishable food, cleaning products, pet food, new blankets and several packages of bottled water have been kindly donated by locals to help Clarence Valley residents affected by the recent floods. Image: Contributed

Raining donations at local flood fundraisers

Emma Pritchard

The generosity of the Clarence Valley community has raised more than $20000 to assist residents who have been adversely affected by the recent flooding.

Orchestrated by local businesses TNT Towing, You Love ‘m, We Scrub ‘m and Anytime Fitness, which hosted three fundraising events on March 5, 6 and 9, each one attracted a large and supportive crowd who willingly opened their wallets and their hearts to those in need.

Packages of bottled water, non-perishable food items, bags of pet food and newly purchased towels and blankets started to pile high as more and more donations were given.

Kathryn Langford, co-owner of Anytime Fitness, who hosted the third fundraising event last Wednesday, said more than 500 people attended between 12-6pm.

“It was just incredible, so amazing,” she said.

“The fundraisers were embraced by the whole community, and many people donated a lot of in demand items such as cleaning products.

“Lots of people had stories to share and a majority of the people who attended last week knew someone who had been directly affected by the floods.

“We had a three-year-old girl come and empty her piggy bank into the donation jar and an elderly woman who had been saving up her coins came and donated them as well.

“I’ve been in tears.

“I’m so proud of our community and how we always come together to do anything we can to help others in need.” 

Despite the wet weather, the barbeque proved extremely popular with attendees at the recent flood fundraising event at Anytime Fitness last week as more than 500 people made donations to help locals affected by the recent flooding. Image: Contributed

Damian Rose from TNT Towing said he is extremely thankful to the local businesses and the Clarence Valley community for their generous support of the three fundraisers, adding he has been blown away by the amount raised during the week.

“I’d have been happy to raise around $5000, but we reached that target at the first event, and then we did it again on the second day,” he recalled happily.

“So many people got on board and the support has been great.

“To everyone who made a contribution, thank you.”

As donations continue to be sorted, Mr Rose confirmed their distribution to Clarence Valley residents in need will commence this week, adding he would like to visit a different community which has been affected each day.

While a delivery schedule was not available at the time of publication, the Clarence Valley Independent will be in contact with Mr Rose to provide the latest updates on our website and Facebook page.