MORE than a month after fire destroyed over 4600 hectares of land in the Scotsburn region, the Ballarat community continues to show its support for victims of the blaze.
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On Tuesday 47 vehicles, ranging from utes to semi-trailers, transported over 1000 bales of hay to the Scotsburn region.
Organised by the Lions Club, the Need for Feed initiative delivered five-hundred large round bales and around 800 small square bales of hay to the victims of the fire, many of whom lost everything.
Event co-ordinator Graham Cockerell said in the wake of more high profile fires at Wye River and the Great Ocean Road, the victims of the Scotsburn fires had been forgotten.
“(The other fires) got all the publicity. The amount of permanent residences lost in the Scotsburn and Barnawatha fires was just about identical to the residences lost in the Wye River fires.
The convoy moved from the Eureka Stadium in North Ballarat to the Buninyong oval, where the hay was distributed among victims of the fire.
Mr Cockerell said while there was a core group who were involved in the project annually, most of the donations had come through responses on social media.
“We just put an ad on Facebook asking people to help out their fellow Aussies who were doing it tough through no fault of their own.”
The Australia Day Need for Feed initiative has been run by the Lions Club for the past nine years ,with volunteers carting hay to fire affected areas including Lancefield, Moyston and Hayfield.
The hay donations follow a huge community effort in the wake of the Scotsburn fires, with a number of different initiatives set up to assist victims of the fire which destroyed at least 12 permanent residences.
The Moorabool Shire recently issued a statement thanking the public for their support and advising that no more donations of food, clothes, toys or bedding were required.
Deputy mayor Paul Tatchell said he was pleased with the community’s sustained efforts to assist the victims of the fire which tore through the region on the weekend before Christmas.
“Sometimes fires are forgotten a month later if there hasn’t been a loss of life, but there was almost 4700 hectares lost and there’s no feed for stock, and these are people’s livelihoods.
“The tempo’s continued to increase rather than fade, and I think that’s indicative of the country spirit. It’s pertinent that (the hay drive) happened on Australia Day.”
Anyone still wishing to help is asked to make a cash donation at the Bendigo Bank, where an account is set up for the victims.