Help Keith & Maree rebuild a life after the floods

G'day,

My name is Rossy. On the 19th December, 2 days after the devastating floods that hit Cairns, we met a 'shell-shocked' Keith & Marie. We were driving around Holloways Beach, looking for people to help clean up. We saw Keith & Marie in their front yard, not knowing what to do, overwhelmed by the situation and what lay inside. At first they said they didn't need help and were OK...but what we found out next proved they did...

We asked if we could help them move their 2 flooded cars out of the driveway so they could walk around safely. We did...which revealed the extent of the damage inside. Water had come up to thigh level inside their old, 1-story fibro home. Muddy, thigh level water, means the second drawer from the bottom in the kitchen was still full of water. It means everything up to that level was picked up by flowing water and moved. It means everything that water touched...is ruined. The timber is already swelling. It took us 2 days to clean it to a state where it was safe to move around in and the smell was bareable. Sadly, they decided to forego insurance recently, due to the constant rise in insurance prices.

This home will likely be condemned, leaving Keith & Marie nowhere to stay. Most of their furniture is ruined. If the house is deemed safe to live in, their entire kitchen, bathroom and cupboards will need replacing.

These are the sweetest people you could meet and I know in their lifetimes, they would've helped a plethora of people in their own ways. I thought maybe if we could donate a couple bucks (or skip one coffee or beer this week and donate the cost of it to them), that we could help get them back on their feet.

Outside before we started...

The kitchen & water in the drawers.

The items that have been removed and are awaiting collection to be taken to the dump.

Keith (front right), Marie (red dress) and the clean up crew.