It says a lot about Ballarat when emergency service workers who give so much to the community can also generously donate thousands for good causes.
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The annual Emergency Services Ball last weekend raised $5000 for the Ballarat Soup Bus and Whiskey's Wish, helping the less fortunate to access food and helping to train PTSD support dogs - that's double what organiser Jason Adams, from the Lucas CFA, was expecting.
The money will help buy more swags after the Soup Bus ran out over winter, while a Ballarat-based dog will now be trained to work with first responders and veterans that have post-traumatic stress injuries locally.
Local businesses and organisations donated goods for auction on the night, which was an opportunity for firefighters, police officers, paramedics, ESTA call centre staff, and emergency department nurses to let their hair down.
ESTA's Briannon Gibson said for the call centre workers, it was great to get out and see the faces of people they interacted with over the phone every day from the centre in Ballarat.
"It's a high-stress job everyone's got, and everyone does such an amazing job for our community, so it's good to mingle and socialise while not in high-stress situations," she said.
Mr Adams agreed - given the amount of interaction between the services at emergencies, it's useful to get to know each other.
"It's been interesting, everyone was in their own groups, but it was more mingled this year and last year," he said.
"If anyone has stuff to talk about, it allows us to let our guard down and just have a chat."
Crag Schepis, founder of the Ballarat Soup Bus, said the donation came at just the right time.
"We rely on community donations, that's how we survive financially," he said.
"We've just completely run out of all our swags, because of the need over this winter so far - we're extremely grateful."
He added there would be more news on the bus front soon, with the organisation working on restoring its first bus, and recently securing a third bus to help deliver meals in Wendouree.
"It's going to come to us raw, we'll be starting again - the great thing is, it's identical to the second one, so the floorplan and layout will be exactly the same, it's just a matter of pulling together our resources again and trying to get the project complete," he said.
"We're pretty lucky that people rally together, we've got a great community."
Anyone who wishes to contribute to the Soup Bus or help train dogs with Whiskey's Wish is encouraged to find out more online.
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