Charity reach-us out to locals

Firefighters in Dampier cooked up a storm late last year when they flipped burgers at the annual Rio Family Christmas Party to raise more than $6000 for a local charity.

The funds went to local charity Reach Us Pilbara Inc, which provides ancillary services for families dealing with cancer, including cleaning, counselling and travel compensation.

The family Christmas party barbecue brought in $6500 in funds for the charity that was formed in 2016. The Dampier Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service raise money for charities at events throughout the year and picked Reach Us because it was a local charity that provided services that were previously unavailable in the Pilbara.

“We wanted to try and help people within the townsite, and we’ve helped other people remotely, and we like to keep the money with people within the region,” DVFRS Captain Stephan Bulla said.

Reach Us founder Stacey Hambley said when establishing the charity, she wanted to ensure that it was sustainable.

“We don’t have any major corporate sponsors — all the money we raise to help families is through fundraising events and guys like the volunteer firefighters,” she said.

Ms Hambley said the money raised stayed in the local area, and Reach Us engaged local businesses to deliver services.

“Knowing that we have support from local people and that local people behind Reach Us and backing what we are doing means the world — we can’t do it without the support of the local community,” she said.