Published on Thursday, 28 May 2020 at 1:06:00 PM
At Council’s meeting on Tuesday, 19 May, a very special presentation was conducted.
Three members of the Lions Club of Whitford attended to make a donation of $3,391.10 to the Volunteer Fire Brigades of the Shire of Gingin. The donation was presented by Mr Philip Couper, the President of the Lions Club and he was supported by fellow Lions members, Mr Jack LeCras OAM and Mr Greg Wilson.
This donation was made to the Fire Brigades of our Shire after a very successful fundraiser that the Lions Club conducted in February earlier this year following the Yanchep Bush Fire which threatened over 6,000 homes from Yanchep in the City of Wanneroo through to Woodridge and Guilderton in the Shire of Gingin. This fundraiser was ably supported by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), in particular Commissioner Darren Klemm AFSM and Superintendent Andrew Hinton.
“On behalf of the northern suburbs, the City of Joondalup and Lions Clubs of Whitford, we would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all of your volunteers and the work they do on behalf of our community,” said Mr Couper at Council’s Tuesday meeting.
The Shire President, Cr Wayne Fewster, accepted the donation on behalf of the Shire and the Volunteer Fire Brigades.
The Yanchep Bush Fire directly threatened the Shire’s southern communities (particularly Woodridge and Guilderton) from the 13 – 16 December where an Emergency Level (red alert) warning was in place for the area before being downgraded to a Watch & Act Level (yellow alert) late in the day on the 16th.
Records tumbled during this period with temperatures soaring over 40°C for 4 of these 6 days with the lowest temperature recorded at 39.4°C and the highest at 43.4°C. Not surprisingly, a Total Fire Ban was declared daily by DFES from 11-16 December.
A purpose for the expenditure of the funds is yet to be determined however Phil Barrett, the Shire’s Chief Bush Fire Control Officer is more than certain that an excellent purpose to expend this generous donation will easily be found.
The Shire of Gingin once again sincerely thanks the Lions Club of Whitford for their generous support. Our volunteers are vital during emergencies and this donation will go a long way towards supporting our Fire Brigades to keep delivering their services to a high standard to our communities in times of crisis.
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