INTRODUCTION

During the  NSW South Coast fires , although we are exhausted and the fire was very close to our home, we lost no property, no animals and we were all now safe. However, the fear of not being safe for weeks on end effects the health of people in many ways. Being a horse owner and a health worker , I know that there must be many people feeling exhausted, unable to plan properly and not knowing where to start.

I was drawn to this situation that a friend had alerted me to , in another town in the 2.5 hours south of me in a little town that 10 days prior had been engulfed by fire at 1 am in the morning. 

My friend had phoned a family to check on them, as these families in these areas are so tough they find it hard to ask for help.
 
Here is the story

THE CLYDESDALES OF COBARGO

The 1am fire killed 3 of the families horses, she had to shoot 2 more when she returned later due to their injuries.  It took over a week to access deisel to use the digger to bury the horses . Whilst having her beloved deceased horses around her, she has had to maintain the capacity to feed her remaining 9 horses, and has taken in other mules that needed some feed also during this time.
2 horses had dropped weight rapidly in the stress and presently and 2 have significant burns.
Her burn cream is running out and a burnt wombat wandered in and she is sharing burn cream with wildlife 

For 9 nights she has had to chose which animals to feed up, which horses will need to be given away, which horses may not make it.  Four of these nights were spent sleeping in a car, with 4 dogs and her 2 beautiful children whilst her partner was assisting manage fires and the farms.
The fire burned a semi trailer load of hay, her  large sheds with her horse drawn carriages ( which is her income).
They have no power, no water and had to pay for a load of water to come in for $265 , which means less food for animals.
She is humble, embarrassed asking for help  and her biggest fear was not being seen as genuine. This is how hard it is for people to ask for help. 
I was sent a photo of her injured horses but we both agreed not to post a photo of anything that makes us sad.
During these 9 harrowing days, word was  getting through that feed is coming, but only a few bales were available when the family went to get feed. After 9 days,  it is hard to sit and wait and hope services will reach you. If they arrive day 14 and 2 more animals have passed away, the repeated devastation would be too hard to fathom.
Marie and her daughter Heidi ( friends of the family) and I don't want the family and children to have to go through that each night  as we know how much this constant stress can have on physical health, decision making and ability to keep planning. We want them to sleep at night knowing they can keep their horse family together and not make another heart breaking decision.

So we decided to drive down , take some emergency feed to take the pressure off and see what else we could start to help this family and other families in their street and town.

VISIT TO THE EFFECTED AREAS
We jumped in the car and drove a few hours south and dropped $300 worth of hay on this initial trip thanks to my awesome cousin who started with an individual donation.
We delivered chicken feed also and medical supplies and taken on the tour of the damage to sheds, fences and loss of personal property that had much sentimental meaning,

By the end of the day, we had raised $4000 through Facebook friends, and a vet is now coming in on Monday to reassess the most effected and injured horses. Having that money available to make rationale decisions about the 2 big injured horses as funding is now available for this.
Some of this money has been spent on more feed and we will seek hay through other means such as the orgorganisations that are visiting these towns.

It is important to realise too, how hard it is to chase some of this information down, get to the drop off places to collect large amounts of hay etc, when you have limited fuel, trucks and also caring for 2 children and keeping animals alive.
Often supplies and trips to these towns need to go to large farms and I can imagine when you are exhausted,  traumatised after losing your horses, and just keeping your head above water, it may be hard to be assertive in these situations.

From the very first donation that came in, this family was talking about how they can help their neighbours, they reiterated how they dont want to take away from anyone who may need items more than they do.
They are treating wildlife and constantly thinking about ways to help other.
One of the most positive things I witnessed was the children reading books and helping us all calmly, so happy to see someone helping their parent. A beautiful family.

A donation to this family is a donation to  much more than just one property.

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS ARE IMPORTANT.... so please keep reading our posts over the next few weeks so we can keep you informed of progress. The recovery time is where we need to be checking on people, their mental health, their rebuilding needs and helping with some normality in conversations.

Over the next few weeks we will be discussing the idea of a working bee to help clean up the property and rebuild fences. In the mean time, we will also be helping to find grants, fill in applications and help be a voice for this street where we can.
Once  the family and their street have had some time to breathe, we will set a date for the working bee and invite any people who would like to help us to contact us.

We would like to take a crew to help with the rebuild of fences etc, spend some money in Cobargo at their pubs and cafe and check on the family and their horses.

This will enable all our donators to see the impact their donations have had. And we can get some photos of the beautiful horses

So presently we will keep fundraising as we would like to support this family for 4 to 6 weeks through this recovery period. This family help so much more than their own needs and will be spreading your help much further up their street.

WHERE FUNDS ARE NOW DIRECTED
Funds will now be taken through the Go Fund Me link which is directed to an account managed by a local  Shoalhaven Vet  who is a friend of the family who can help pay bills and provide stock also.

For those people who would like to help purchase food for the horses ( and some other farm animals on the farm we visited , an account has now been set up at Southern Farm Supplies in Bega in the name of Lisa and Clydes.

https://sfsbega.com.au/
Southern Farm Supplies
65-67 Auckland St, Bega NSW 2550
Phone: (02) 6492 3500
Email: [email redacted].au


Please keep sending us through any links or notifications about assistance in the Cobargo area as we are assisting by passing these on to the family who is then passing these messages onto friends who drop by their house.

Its easy to miss these notifcations if you are not sitting with your phone all day, and when you are rebuilding, and looking after sick and injured animals, and also trying to get some sleep, this is hard work. 
Also, if anyone has had success filling in these grants, or would like to help us out, we would love help in this area also

This family has a strong sense of humour despite their heartache and they have have helped me laugh so much when i visited them, and after a harrowing few weeks myself i really needed a laugh.... how wonderful are people that the most effected people can help us all heal

Thank you to all our donators so far... I will keep you updated on the Clydesdales ... you have all helped save lives through your direct and immediate response to an emergency.

Many thanks
Brodie and Marie and Heidi