Below: Pakenham Uniting Church minister Dick Johnston has reached out to drought sufferers in the Mallee region for the second year running.By Marc McGowan
PAKENHAM Uniting Church minister Dick Johnston on Monday packed his ute and headed to the Mallee region to provide muchneeded help for those suffering from the drought.
Rev Johnston made the fivehour trip to droughtstricken towns Sea Lake and Berriwillock, two hours south of Mildura,for the second year running on behalf of the church and the community.
“They are still in some real strife up there,” he said.
“We provide them with clothes, food, Christmas gifts for children and fresh fruit – locally produced apples.
“This year we focused a little on gifts of cash, so that the people there could do their own buying for what they need for Christmas.”
The venture began last year when the church held a ‘day of listening’, which provided ideas as to how it could help the communities which were struggling with the drought.
“One of the ways the community indicated we could help was by giving them our support and for them to know there are others in other parts of Australia in different conditions willing to help them,” Rev Johnston said.
None of this would be possible without the support of the Pakenham community, which has gone out of its way to help the region.
“A lot of people in Pakenham still remember its rural days,” he said.
“I’m really proud of the community for the way it’s got behind what we did last time.”
The community support has grown immensely since last year, with this year’s cash donations of about $2400 compared to last year’s donations of between $600 and $800.
Rev Johnston believes the growth has to do with the appreciation the Mallee region showed towards those who helped out last year.
“It was overwhelming (last year),” he said.
“They appreciated what we did so much and maintained contact by phone.
“Without asking them we decided whether it might not be an appropriate gesture to provide some help again in a similar way.
“I think this year people have responded in a really magnificent way, because they’d had contact with them and known it really helped.”
