BROADFORD Country Fire Authority members were grateful recipients of a $1200 donation from the town’s IGA supermarket last week.
Broadford IGA manager Fiore Ambrosio said the store made charitable donations to community groups ‘once or twice a year’, and were keen to help out CFA members after a tough year.
“They’ve dealt with bushfires and it’s good to recognise them for their hard work in supporting the community,” he said.
“We picked them because they require it and they’re an important part of the community. They provide a great benefit for everyone who lives in the area.”
Broadford Fire Brigade second lieutenant Jay Martin said the group was ecstatic to receive the donation and planned to put the money to good use.
He said it would help ensure the safety of Broadford CFA members.
“Broadford, like all the other brigades in the area, is fully volunteer-based, so this allows us to purchase equipment that makes the job safer for the volunteers,” he said.
“It might be helmet torches, it might be hoses for trucks – anything that makes our life that little bit easier.
“For the time we spend on a job or for the gear we wear and use when we’re performing an emergency service for the public, $1200 actually goes a really long way with a brigade or any community group.”
Mr Martin said the group was unaware the IGA planned to make a donation until earlier this month.
He said donations were often vital to regional CFA brigades.
“It’s a significant donation, and we can make $1200 go an extraordinarily long way for members with equipment,” he said.
“It allows us to buy all the extra bits and pieces that the CFA doesn’t provide to us.
“They provide a basic level, and anything above that we’re doing sausage sizzles, we’re asking for community donations and we’re seeking donations of equipment from businesses in Melbourne.
“It’s very generous to get a call out of nowhere to say ‘we’ve got $1200 for you’.”
Mr Martin encouraged people to get behind CFA brigades by making donations of their own.
“The CFA is a tax-deductible gift recipient, so any donation above $2 is tax deductible,” he said.
“If anybody in the community wants to donate to their local brigade, they can reach out via the CFA website, which has a link for donations that come directly to us, or they can reach out to their local brigades via the Facebook pages that most of us have now. All donations will be warmly received.”
