Year in review – All hands on deck

L-R: Shauna Evans, Mayur Meshram and Shayne Honey with some of the donated food at the Officer Footy Club. Pics: GABRIELLA PAYNE

Longwarry woman Shauna Evans’ ‘All hands on deck’ campaign was established in concert with the Pakenham SES to help those recovering from the wild weather events in June.

Organisations and community members came together from across the Cardinia Shire to help those in need after the flooding in Gippsland and the storms in the hills.

Food collection stations were established across the shire, at both the Longwarry Football Club and the Officer Football Club.

The first collection was held in Longwarry on Wednesday 16 June and another was held at the Officer Football Club on Friday 18 June, with the final collections taking place on Tuesday 22 June at both clubs before all the supplies gathered were sent to help those in either flood or storm affected area.

“I saw how quickly things were happening and how quickly people were being impacted and I figured if I can help someone out and make their day, I suppose give them something positive out of a negative situation, then that’s better than doing nothing,” Ms Evans said.

“People are just trying to get back up on their feet [after Covid-19] and they’ve been knocked back down again, and yeah it just started with a small ambition and it’s just gotten bigger and bigger and evolved, which is just amazing.”