SES snags $40,000

By Elisa Scarton
THE Pakenham and Berwick communities have helped raise $40,000 for the State Emergency Service working in flood-affected regional Victoria.
Residents raised the money by supporting flood relief sausage sizzles at Bunnings Warehouses throughout September.
Bunnings in Pakenham raised $500 alone for the SES during one afternoon of frying and serving sausages on 17 September.
The complex’s activities organiser Trine Benetti (Trine Benetti) said she was overwhelmed by the number of residents who turned out to buy a sausage and do their bit for the worthy cause.
“We brought out all the condiments, sausages and onions and everyone from our team came in their own time to man the sizzle station,” Ms Benetti said.
“Every cent we raised was donated to the SES. We were lucky some of our team members could work a barbecue as it was a really busy day at the store and few people could resist stopping for a bite, especially once they found out what we were raising money for.”
The fund-raising sausage sizzles were held at Bunnings Warehouses across the state, as well as in South Australia and Tasmania.
Residents in Fountain Gate also got behind the fund-raiser, handing over more than $500 for the SES volunteers at their sizzle day.
The complex’s manager, Carl Santilli, said the enthusiasm shown by staff and customers had to be seen to be believed.
“The support of local Pakenham and Berwick residents demonstrated the unity of communities in times of need, which was really great,” Mr Santilli said.
The SES has been leading clean-up efforts in the state’s worst affected areas since last month’s floods.
But SES spokesperson Lachlan Quick said the money collected from the sausage sizzles would go towards preparing for even more flooding.
“All indicators show that it’s likely these areas will be flooded again before the end of this year, so we’re working to prepare and educate the communities for that,” he said.
“It’s been 12-15 years since these areas have seen rain like this and residents aren’t sure what to do. Our role is to support them, show them what to do and help them get ready if things should flood again.”
Mr Quick thanked the community for its support and said the SES was always surprised by just how much people were willing to do for those in need.
“Bunnings rang us up straight out of the blue and said they wanted to help. They organised everything on their own in fewer than three days and raised so much,” he said.
“We are incredibly grateful for support from the community as without them we couldn’t possibly do the work we do.”