Summerland Credit Union has established a flood recovery fund to help community organisations who are struggling to get back on their feet after the recent flood events in the Northern Rivers.

“We know that there are a number of appeals and government funding available to help local individuals and businesses that have been impacted by the flood events, but what we are hoping to achieve with this appeal, is to raise funds for local community organisations and not for profits who may have fallen through the cracks to receive the assistance they need to get back on their feet.

“The fund appeal will be promoted to customers and members of credit unions and other cooperatives around the world to encourage people to dig deep to help our local communities recover”, said John Williams, CEO, Summerland Credit Union.

The flood recovery fund has been established by working in partnership with The Australian Mutual Fund (AMF) so that donations collected will be tax deductible.

The AMF successfully raised $380,000 from credit unions and cooperatives from around the world after the 2019/20 bushfire emergency.

The flood recovery appeal goal is to raise $200,000 for local communities between May 1 and December 31, 2022. The AMF have already committed $50,000 to the fund and Summerland Credit Union has also received several donations from suppliers and other credit unions in Australia, and these donations will be contributed to the appeal bringing the total collected to date to $85,000.

“We understand that the impact of these floods will be felt long after the flood water has receded and the cleanup finished. The impact on the wellbeing of our community will be large and we would like to help those affected to rebuild their lives and help them return to a normal life.” John Williams said.

In the coming weeks a simple application process will be developed, and the community will be invited to apply in early December.

Summerland would like to acknowledge and thank our friends, suppliers and colleagues who generously donated:

• Coastline Credit Union $5,000
• Indue $10,000
• Protecht $5,000
• ASL $10,000
• COBA $5,000
• Data Action $5,000

Many thanks to all who contribute, together we are more.

If you would like to contribute, please donate below by choosing ‘Flood Disaster Relief’ and ‘Summerland Credit Union’ from the ‘Are you a member of’ list so we can distribute the funds received.