Lions Alert Program
THE HUMAN FACE of AUSTRALIA
Disaster Relief for Victorian Bushfire Victims
February 18, 2009
LIONS IN 201 N3 AND 201 V1-4 JOIN FORCES WITH COLWAY EXPRESS TO COLLECT, TRANSPORT AND DISTRIBUTE PERSONAL AND ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS FOR FIRE TRAGEDY VICTIMS.
The next time you hear someone say "they ought to do something" (the AORTA complex) think of two great Australians, Rob Sterling and Brendan Kenny, who own Colway Express, a transport and distribution company located at Berkeley Vale on the Central Coast of NSW. Here is their story and the involvement of LIONS Clubs in NSW and Victoria who helped it become true.
Sunday 8th of February 2009: Rob and Brendan saw the horrific loss of life and property damage caused by fire at Marysville and Kinglake in Victoria. On the spot, they agreed to make all their company's transport vehicles available, at their own cost, to carry goods to the fire-stricken area. Rob went to 2GO Central Coast radio and announced his intention, asking the Central Coast Community to get behind the Colway Express/Central Coast relief effort.
Monday 9th February: The Community responded. Not only were the wonderful citizens of the Central Coast responding, very generous companies were also getting behind the effort, including Master Foods (who have always been unflinching in their support for every worthwhile cause), Coastal Spring (bottled water), Scholastica Australia (children's educational books and materials), B.J.Howes (consumer goods) and British Petroleum. The support of these companies can't be measured only by the pallets of the products that they donated - they provided every possible encouragement as well.
Tuesday 19th February: Rob and Brendan realised that they would need assistance with storage and distribution when they delivered the relief materials to Victoria. They decided to request the assistance of LIONS. Early in the morning, Rob rang the Lions Club of Toukley and the rest, as they say, is history. Lion Paul Mutton called Ross Wood, LIONS Disaster Chairman and PDG of Maiden Gully-Marong Lions Club in Eaglehawk, Victoria. Ross immediately pledged his support. DG Ann Ryan was apprised of the project and backed the LIONS involvement 100%. DG Ann commenced liaising with her counterparts to ensure LIONS co-ordination in the affected areas
Within the hour, Rob and Brendan received the unswerving commitment of LIONS to the relief effort. Members of Toukley Lions were at Colway Express by noon to assist and support Rob and his team. An NBN3 TV crew arrived for interviews that were incorporated into NBN3 News that evening, and provided even more stimulus and support for the effort. More supplies flooded in. Two other transport companies, Freightlinx and Toll, also offered their support with vehicles, a 40-foot shipping container and volunteer drivers to make the 1000km drive to Bendigo, Victoria.
Rob and Brendan had asked the Central Coast community to donate consumer products that people would need immediately. Their plan was to have these in Bendigo by Saturday. They realised that durable goods such as furniture, kitchen equipment etc wouldn’t be as useful at this stage because fire victims would have nowhere to store them. They needed personal products such as preserved foods, toiletries, disposable nappies, toothpaste, toilet paper, bottled water etc. The Victorian Fire Fighters weren't forgotten. They would receive donations of day-end refreshments. The animals, that had been left homeless, weren't forgotten either. The final convoy included pallets of hay, pet foods, and veterinary products for pets and farm animals. (One semi-trailer carried an entire load of hay!).
Wednesday 11th February: Toukley LIONS went to Colway Express to assist with telephoning local businesses to seek their support in the effort. The response was tremendous. Many, who had already given to Relief Funds, promised goods from their businesses and retail stores. Drop-off points were set up to receive donated products (including the LIONS Centre in Toukley) and those who couldn't get to these points received a visit from Colway Express or LIONS.
By now, PDG Lion Ross Wood and the Bendigo Zone Clubs were well advanced with co-ordinating LIONS assistance with unloading, storing, and ultimately sorting and distributing to relief materials. He had found a suitable storage warehouse in Eaglehawk (Bendigo), only hundreds of metres from the fire that claimed one life and 50 homes. They had organised the LIONS from seven local clubs to assemble on Saturday for our arrival and assist with unloading and storage, (not to mention providing hospitality for the interstate group!)
Thursday 12th February: After briefing DG Ann of developments, two Toukley Lions committed to accompanying the convoy to Bendigo. Andrew Mutton offered to photograph the entire relief operation, and thanks to him, we have a superb photographic record of events.
People making donations were advised that the cut-off time was 6:30pm on Friday, ensuring that last minute loading could be complete in time for departure to Bendigo at 2:00am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Rob made more radio interviews and received more commitments for assistance
Friday 13th February: A very busy day at Colway Express. Toukley Lions helped out with receiving and packing goods for the relief effort. Lions manned the Toukley Lions Centre drop-off point. Even after 6:00pm, people were still arriving with donations. At the end of the day, a B-Double articulated truck, four semi-trailers and a large truck were loaded (to the rafters) and the convoy was ready for the trip to Bendigo
Saturday 14th February: At 1:30am, sixteen people assembled at Colway Express and, by 2:30am, the convoy was on the road...in very rainy weather. Everyone wished we could take it with us to Bendigo! A proscribed break at Goulburn (and a quick breakfast) was followed by further proscribed breaks and weighbridge appearances, until finally we crossed the border at Albury and headed for Bendigo. ETA had been 11:00-12:00 noon but, by then, 2:30pm was looking more likely. It was also increasingly evident that we would not get back to Wodonga by evening where the Albury-Wodonga LIONS had generously arranged accommodation for the entire group
A call to PDG Ross Wood ensured that alternative arrangements were made. Toukley Lions contacted Albury-Wodonga LIONS. We are very grateful to them for all their efforts to support us.
By 4:15pm, the pallets of materials had been unloaded into the LIONS warehouse and then began the task of unloading the hundreds of bags of clothing, toiletries, toys etc. Local Lions, inspired by Maiden Gully President Gary Bolger, formed a bucket brigade (no pun intended…it is appropriate for the task that was at hand) to shift the bags into storage. At one stage it seemed that there wouldn't be enough space in the warehouse, so Gary directed one truck to his home, where it was unloaded.
Local TV sent a cameraman, Julian, to record the event and interview Rob and Lion Paul. Julian had lost two close friends in the fires and was pleased to witness our efforts
A BBQ was planned for 6:30pm. When the unloading was finally completed at 8:00pm, Brendan made a deeply moving truck-side speech to the assembled LIONS and his crew, thanking them for their time and toil. As all the convoy group were exhausted, they were excused from enjoying the LIONS BBQ.
Sunday 15th February: After a very restful night at the Eaglehawk Motel, the local LIONS collected us at 7:30am to visit the scene of the Eaglehawk devastation. It's hard to find the words to describe what we saw, or understand why it could have occurred. Fire is often regarded as non-discriminatory, especially if you are in its path. In many places, however, some homes were razed and their neighbours were left unscathed for no apparent reason. One white house was surrounded by burnt earth but wasn't touched, not even singed. One unfortunate man died in this fire because his wheelchair was no match for the speed of the fire. He couldn't leave his home. Some very kind people had already left bunches of flowers tied to what was left of his front gate.
We returned to our motel in a very sombre and crest-fallen mood
By 9:30 am after making our farewells with Maiden Gully President Gary Bolger and our LIONS guides, we were on the road to Shepparton. Lunch at Benalla was followed by proscribed rest breaks at Tarcutta, Yass and Goulburn with arrival back at Colway Express's Berkeley Vale premises at 9:30pm. Rob and his wonderful people and LIONS from Toukley and Bendigo had spent nearly a week in frenetic activity to get the project on the road and could rightfully feel proud of the success of their endeavours.
Comment: The generosity of Australians, especially in time of difficulty, disaster and great challenge, is unsurpassed. Whether it is the seemingly endless willingness of companies including Colway Express, Masterfoods, Coastal Springs, Scholastica, B.J.Howes, and BP, the humanity of ordinary Aussies who have opened their purses/wallets, and their wardrobes and pantries, to help others whom they don't know and are unlikely to ever meet, exemplifies all that is great in mankind.
To meet and work with real life gentlemen (heroes!) like Rob Sterling and Brendan Kenny, who were prepared to simply drop everything they were doing and offer everything they have, is a life changing experience. Certainly the events of that week, in February 2008, at Colway Express, the Lions Club of Toukley and the Lions Clubs of Bendigo, Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat, Maiden Gully-Marong, Strathfieldsaye, Huntly Epsom, Heathcote, and the Golden City Bendigo Lioness Club showed that it is possible to support our communities in times of trouble and need, and to do it quickly and effectively.
The lives that have been lost in this tragedy are irreplaceable and families who lost loved ones will grieve for years to come. Re-building lost homes and businesses will take months, if not years, and refurnishing and refurbishing them even longer. But a toothbrush and toothpaste, soap and towels, food and water, toilet paper, clothing and somewhere to sleep are immediate human necessities following tragedies and disasters. Rob and Brendan recognized this immediately and focussed all their energies in getting such relief to the victims as quickly as possible. They succeeded in a way they could never have foreseen. After all, this was their first time in setting out to help others on such a massive scale. Their endeavours are inspirational but they also act as an example of what can be done when time is the critical factor. Their minds conceived and believed and, with their efforts, they achieved!
Reporter: Lion Paul Mutton
The Lions Club of Toukley
201 N3
Editor's note: To view photographs of the transport and unloading of the donated relief as well as the fire devastation at Eaglehawk go to