Helping hand: The Samaritan’s Purse crew on deck in Echuca.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Samaritan’s Purse is an international non-governmental organisation that provides relief, development and emergency aid to people around the world.
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Using Echuca Community Church as its base, the group will be in the area for the next month providing assistance to anyone needing flood recovery help.
Samaritan's Purse Australia and New Zealand disaster relief manager Daniel Stephens has brought the organisation’s ‘toolbox on wheels’ to help with the recovery effort.
“It’s a 40-foot, 18-wheeler semi-trailer, that is the base of our operations that we use in a disaster,” Mr Stephens said.
“It has all the tools and equipment needed, for getting out there after a flood, and mucking out people's homes.
“It has its own generators and power washers.
“Essentially, after a disaster, we can bring the truck into the community and provide all of the tools to volunteers to use free of charge, to go out with our teams and have everything they need to clean up.”
Pitching in: The Samaritan’s Purse crew.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Echuca Community Church pastor David McAllan asked Samaritan’s Purse, which is based in the USA and has an office in Sydney, if volunteers would like to come to the area and help with the recovery.
“The reason I got on to them is we wanted to do something as churches, but the problem is we are not equipped well for this and they are — they have got all that they need to be able to help with the recovery,” Mr McAllan said.
“It worked out very well as they are willing and eager, having come and set up, it has been going very well since last Saturday.”
Because the church is located on a hectare of land, there is plenty of room for Samaritan’s Purse to park the semi-trailer and use the church facilities as a base of operations.
Samaritan’s Purse volunteers are going into houses damaged by the floods and removing all the waste, including all water-damaged floor coverings, taking out the plasterboard where needed and then cleaning the house and treating it against mould.
“Basically, once it has been done, the owner can actually take possession of the house and start living in it again, even though there won’t be walls or skirting boards or the like,” Mr McAllan said.
“But at least they can get back into their house.
“There is no cost to the home owners, it’s all covered by donations; there is no government money, it’s just all people’s individual wish to donate to the work.”
Each day between 25 and 30 people volunteer, aged from 18 to 80, with everything supplied they need to do the work, including N95 masks and gloves.
“For anyone to volunteer, all they need is a good set of shoes, as they even supply mozzie repellent, PPE and all the tools that are needed to do the job,” Mr McAllan said.
“I am expecting that the other churches are going to have volunteers coming on board soon as well.
“It is the work of the Echuca-Moama churches as a whole, wanting to support what Samaritan’s Purse is doing.
On deck: The Samaritan’s Purse crew are in Echuca.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Echuca Community Church is providing meals for the volunteers while they are in the area.
“Normally, Samaritan’s Purse does all of that themselves, but we thought this is a way we can help them financially,” Mr McAllan said.
“One of the Christian positions is ‘love your neighbour as yourself’, and so it is compassionate to outreach to people who have suffered as a result of the flood.”
Echuca Community Church knew of Samaritan's Purse’s relief work through its involvement in the Operation Christmas Child program with the organisation each year.
“At Christmas time, schools and other folks pack toys into shoeboxes and then those shoeboxes go to kids around the world, mainly in developing countries,” Samaritan's Purse’s Mr Stephens said.
“It’s millions of shoeboxes each year and a lot of churches and schools are involved in that program.
“Internationally, we have a whole team of medical folk in Ukraine, that are there as medical workers, with a field hospital.”
If anyone requires help with flood recovery or would like to volunteer, they can contact the Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Response Unit on 0460 420 166.
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