Whilst the monsoon season may be behind North Queenslanders for another year, many Townsville residents continue to count the costs of the catastrophic floods in February.
At the time, a call went out from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for fellow Queenslanders to dig deep to support the flood appeals and help out their northern neighbours.
Although just a few metres shy of the Queensland border, it didn’t stop Twin Towns from chipping in $25,000 on behalf of members, especially its 17,500 or so Queensland members.
The donation was made to The Salvation Army Flood Appeal by the Twin Towns Community Foundation, the Club’s philanthropic association set up to provide financial and in-kind assistance to local community groups and causes.
At times, the Foundation’s financial assistance extends outside the State, such as donations to drought appeals, funding of medical research, university scholarships and international aid appeals.
The donation from the Foundation will be specifically allocated towards assisting flood-affected members of the Townsville
community.
Some months on from the floods, The Salvation Army continues to deploy around 16 staff a day into Townsville to work within five recovery hubs and outreach teams.
Twin Towns Board Director and Secretary of the Twin Towns Community Foundation, Dr John Griffin said the work of The Salvation Army in North Queensland is ongoing.
“There is no clear indication yet of a conclusion date and already The Salvation Army has assisted over 2,000 families and provided over $1M in financial assistance to flood-affected people and families.
“We hope this donation from Twin Towns will help ease some of the burden the floods have caused to the people of Townsville, as they get on with rebuilding their lives, and their livelihoods, in the wake of this natural disaster,” said Dr Griffin.
Derek Brown, Philanthropy Team Leader (QLD, NSW & ACT), Communications and Fundraising Department at the Salvation
Army, said Twin Towns Services Community Foundation has supported The Salvation Army Emergency Services through every major natural disaster since the Victorian Bushfires in 2013 to the current floods in Townsville in February 2019.
“The Foundation’s generous financial support, totalling $375,000 during these seven years, has given thousands of Australians hope where it’s needed most in the midst of some of our biggest natural disasters,” said Derek.
For more information about funding or financial assistance through the Twin Towns Services Community Foundation
or ClubGRANTS, head to www.twintowns.com.au/community