Mid West chips in for NSW bushfire aid

A timely telephone inquiry initially led to Geraldton’s Midwest Disaster Relief being asked to help a wildlife sanctuary get back on its feet by donating $10,000. The Wog Wog Wildlife Refuge at Pericoe, NSW — which cares for 40 wombats, 20 wallabies, two goannas and a platypus — lost sheds, machinery and a vehicle in the recent bushfires. But because its house was spared, the organisation was not eligible for relief funding. Midwest Disaster Relief head Chris Sorohan telephoned Jeremy Fernando, a senior pastor and ambulance chaplain at the Sapphire Life Church in NSW, and asked how the organisation could help. The refuge had a $20,000 excavator at the top of its list of needs. In short, people from Geraldton and the Mid West contributed half that amount via MDR. “It’s fantastic the way Mid West people responded,” Mr Sorohan said.