By Danielle Kutchel
Festive cheer came to the fire affected communities of Bunyip North, Garfield North, Tonimbuk and Tynong North in a recent Christmas in July celebration.
Residents gathered at the Parnassus Function Centre in Drouin to celebrate the occasion on Friday 26 July.
The event was the brainchild of Liz Wishart, a volunteer at the Tonimbuk Recovery Centre.Musician Jefferson Smith, Santa and many helpers provided a fun-filled evening.
Santa distributed gifts that had been generously donated by local businesses and individuals from near and far, including Totally Workwear Warragul, Larmax Garfield, VC Traders, Glenmac in Pakenham, 3GG in Warragul, Drouin Health and Fitness and That Vegan Hairdresser, among many others. Tickets and transportation were also donated for residents.
For some of those attending, it was their first night out since the fires in March.
Ms Wishart said she hoped attendees would draw strength from the shared experience and take a break from the long recovery process.
“I’m ex-army and experiences I’ve gone through were on par to that trauma they experienced, and I wanted to help out where I could. I know the feeling of hopelessness and social isolation that comes from a traumatic event and tried to give them a nice thing to attend to break that cycle before it sets in.
“It was nice to see that they got a chance to get away and enjoy themselves.”
She also thanked local businesses for getting on board with donations for the night.
