An estimated $500,000 worth of bush fire relief supplies has arrived in the Manning from Adelaide, South Australia.
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The items were delivered to Taree Resonate Church on Tuesday, December 3 via two large trucks and a shipping container.
The mass donation was organised by Helen Hatch, the owner of the Gungellan Hotel, whose house burnt down in the devastating Pinery fires in Adelaide's Mid North region in 2015.
Pastors Jenny and Rick Brewer, of the Taree Resonate Church and the Taree branch of disaster relief organisation Global Care, were blown away by the generosity of the Adelaide community.
"She (Helen) wanted to do something- she was helped by Global Care four years ago when her house burnt down so she wanted to give back to the community," Jenny explained.
"They've spent the last three weeks advertising it and the whole community has gotten together.
"It's just wonderful to see the spirit of Australia and the heart of these people."
Pallets containing water, non-perishable food, cat and dog food, vouchers, toiletries, bedding and Christmas presents were unpacked from the trucks by local Global Care volunteers.
"We've got 100 gift boxes made by children in two schools for children that have lost their homes," Jenny added.
An Earl's Turf employee donated his time to help transport the pallets from the trucks.
Some of the items have already been delivered to those in need.
"We've been hard at work trying to find people who are in legitimate need so we can get all the stuff that is brand new right into their hands," Rick said.
The items were delivered by Julie-Anne Kelly, Peter Fischer, David Hillam and Herbie Green.
The team departed Adelaide early on Monday morning and arrived at the church on Tuesday afternoon.
"We called it the Fire Fun Run," Julie-Anne said.
"Everyone just heard the callout and just kept bringing donation after donation."
They've spent the last three weeks advertising it and the whole community has gotten together.
- Jenny Brewer
Herbie, who drove one of the trucks, was deeply impacted by the Pinery fires.
"His parents lost everything," Julie-Anne revealed.
"Even driving in with the smoke, it brought back some memories."
Julie-Anne said the Adelaide community sent messages of support to those impacted by the bush fire crisis.
"We wish you all the best- it's going to be a long road but keep your chin up and know there are people out there that care about you," she said.
A fire victim greeted Julie-Anne with a hug on their arrival. Jenny said she wanted to meet the group and thank them for the donation.
The Taree branch of Global Care works out of the Resonate Church.
"Our tag line is 'mates helping mates'- that is a quintessential part of Australian culture," Rick said.
"As a church, we really want to be active with that and when we started our Global Care arm we just look for opportunities to really help people, not just Christians.
"We provide meals for the community and our Global Care shop gives them an opportunity for cheaper goods to help out their households."