Sonia swaps overseas jaunt for Blazeaid work
Volunteers have been hard at it for almost two months helping repair damage to farms caused by the Bunyip State Forest fire in March and there’s still plenty to do.
Some of the volunteers have even come from interstate to join up with Blazeaid Bunyip.
One of them, 58 year-old Sonia Mangelsen from the north-east Adelaide suburb of Windsor Gardens, is about to wind up an almost one-month stint at Bunyip.
She cancelled a previously booked overseas holiday after learning of the Blazeaid Bunyip on a radio program, jumped on an aeroplane to Melbourne, hired a campervan and headed to Bunyip.
Ms Mangelsen has been helping rebuild some of the hundreds of kilometres of farm fencing destroyed by the fire.
Although her days have generally been fully taken up working and sleeping she has taken the opportunity on the occasional rest days to mix in the Bunyip community including visits to the local community shop and community house.
“It’s a close knit community feeling that I love,” Ms Mangelsen said.
Another enjoyable part of her involvement with Blazeaid has been talking with fire victims that she says are usually more comfortable talking with a stranger when wanting to get something off their minds.
“It’s so rewarding knowing that just by listening I have eased someone’s pain,” Ms Mangelsen added.
She encourages anybody with some time to spare, now matter how little, to call at the coordinating centre at the tennis club at the Bunyip recreation reserve and volunteer to help.
As well as the volunteers out in the field there are about another 20 that support them by preparing three meals a day at the tennis club base.