Bushfire Fundraiser Appeal

Article originally published at CH Smith Marine website.

For many it’s been a pretty rough start to the year – but even in the worst of times, light can still shine through.

Last month the marine community rallied together to organise a Bushfire Fundraiser Appeal – auctioning off over $100,000 worth of gear to raise vital funds for those affected by the bushfires.

A Fundraiser BBQ was held in Frankston, Melbourne, on 12th January to auction these items off – with astounding results.

What started as just an idea, with a few mates from Busted Fishing, BerleyPro and Lonestar Marine all banding together to ask what they could do – quickly grew, and in the space of just 9 days, soon the whole marine community was on board!

CH Smith Marine also joined the ranks to donate a Furuno FCV-588 Fishfinder.

With everyone pitching in together, soon there was a pretty decent haul of gear up for auction. Final bids have now all been counted – with a whopping total of $201,230.66 raised!

‘We are very proud to announce this total tally to be donated to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal,’ says Frank Fernkorn of Busted Fishing. ‘We will get this cheque to the Bendigo Bank, so it goes to the people who need it asap.’

What a fantastic result, and amazing effort by all involved! It just goes to show – from little things, big things grow.

And if you’ve been feeling helpless or overwhelmed seeing news of the bushfires roll in, all it takes is one person with an idea to kick things off, and a fundraiser can grow to something as big as this.

In the face of such terrible circumstances, Australia is a pretty tough country – and in spite of everything, these fires really have brought out the best in so many people.

If you wish to donate to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal, head to the Fundraiser website here.

You can check out the Bushfire Fundraiser Facebook group here.