Australia is being devastated by bushfires. More than a dozen casualties, thousands of homes destroyed, millions of hectares burned and around one billion animal lives lost.
Coffee and hospitality have been affected too. Rural businesses and customers are gone, supply routes disrupted and local farms or suppliers losing livestock or product.
In South Australia, Adelaide Hills was ravaged by fire on 20 December, striking the local wine industry. Glam Adelaide says up to 20 wineries and countless growers are affected.
With the ASCA Condesa Co Lab 2020 Australian Coffee Championships to be held in Adelaide at Tasting Australia, we want to show our support for the state that is graciously hosting us during their time of need.
The coffee industry has sprung into action to support bushfire relief, with cafés, roasters and other companies doing their part to raise funds. To directly support Adelaide’s winery families and workers – some have lost everything – please follow the below links:
Glam Adelaide – Here’s The Bushfire-Affected Wineries Who Need Your Support
https://glamadelaide.com.au/heres-the-bushfire-affected-wineries-who-need-your-support/
CFS Foundation
https://cfsfoundation.org.au/donate
Vinnies SA Bushfire Appeal
https://www.vinnies.org.au/page/Donate/Vinnies_Current_Appeals/Vinnies_SA_Bushfire_Appeal_-_December_2019/
Department of Human Services:SA Bushfire Appeal
https://dhs.sa.gov.au/services/disaster-recovery/accordion-11
Help save Kangaroo Islands Koalas and wildlife
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-kangaroo-islands-koalas-and-wildlife
While short-term action is necessary and front of mind, ASCA has implemented medium and long-term efforts to support bushfire relief.
We have signed a heads of agreement with Project 4 Change, an Australian charity that provides housing to the community without any government funding. Given the continuing effect of the bushfires on hundreds of families, P4C is accelerating its work to look after this cohort and take a long-term approach to the issue, rather than the temporary immediate housing needs being met by others
Formed as a direct result of the 2011 Brisbane floods, the charity found that once the event was no longer newsworthy, people were left to their own devices.
So this is not repeated, it is creating a facility to prefabricate homes and deliver for immediate erection. This is not modular construction, rather each wall will be built as a complete component. It will also include construction of the bathroom as a ‘safe room’ for fire or cyclone.
Many the homes that have been lost will be older style properties and contain asbestos.
The requirements of government now are that all the asbestos will need to be removed independently of the general demolition. This can be an expensive exercise.
The current building standards in these areas now include construction around fire protection, which was not part of the original construction of most of the homes that have been lost.
The insurance policies based around replacement cost of the homes will not cover the asbestos removal and updated fire compliance. As a result, families will be out of pocket for a large sum of money to rebuild. Add to this the need to have trades people travel to the more remote areas and further costs will be incurred.
To this end, P4C has set up a gift fund for public donations to help bring this to reality a lot earlier than was planned.
If you wish to be part of the solution, please see the bank account details below. A tax receipt will be issued to each donor if requested.
Community Sector bank
BSB 633000
A/c 158120295
Project 4 Change Gift Fund.
For more information, visit www.project4change.org.au