A tear-jerking seven-part series of powerful videos featuring residents of fire-ravaged Ruffy at their burnt-out properties has been released in the hope of encouraging wider support for the Strathbogie Disaster Relief Fund.

The Longwood bushfire burnt around 140,000 hectares of land between January 7 and January 10 this year, destroying more than 300 structures (including upwards of 100 homes) and thousands of stock and wildlife as it raged.

Justus Hagen, who features in one of the videos, has lived in Ruffy since 1980.

He taught at the former primary school for nine years and built his own home and other structures on his farm from the ground up with his wife.

“It was pretty nice by the time the fire came,” he said.

“We’re seeing signs of renewal already, new shoots on the plants, that’s how we want to be, new shoots, starting afresh.”

Theo LaGarde spoke of the financial, physical and emotional toll it had taken on him and members of his community.

“The fight has just begun,” he said.

“We had a mighty task in fighting the fire, but an even bigger task in making sure that everyone in the community comes through this and out the other side.

“This is when we’re going to need the help.”

A sub-fund of the Australian Communities Foundation, the Strathbogie Disaster Relief Fund was established within eight days of the bushfire, with the ability to leverage the DGR-1 tax status of the ACF in order to get relief funding directly into the hands of impacted households and businesses.

The community-run fund has so far raised more than $420,000 and has issued over $160,000 to more than 100 households through the Rapid Response Grants funding round, with more substantial initiatives and funding rounds to come.

Ann Laherty-Hunt has lived in Ruffy for 12 years after making a tree change.

She and her husband had finished renovating three months before the bushfire destroyed their home.

“We love Ruffy, we’re going to stay, we’re going to rebuild,” she said.

“The main reason we love Ruffy is we love the community.”

She said Ruffy was an amazing place that needed to be rebuilt to be “just as amazing” as before the flames.

Through tears, Pam Bannister said there was never any doubt that she would rebuild.

“This is our community, I need to be with my people,” she said.

“It’ll still have the same heart that it had before. It’ll come back bigger and better, or not so big, but definitely better because it’s the same people and it’s the people that make the community up here.”

SDRF Community Advisory Committee member Alister Purbrick said the video series shone a light on the true impacts and heroes of the January fires.

“It is so important to show not just the immediate impact of the fires but the long tail of destruction that individuals and communities are left to deal with,” he said.

“The real human cost of the fires is something money can’t heal but it can help rebuild structures and spirit.”

See the videos here.

For more information on the Strathbogie Disaster Relief Fund, visit: strathbogiedisasterrelief.com

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Thursday, 16th August 2029

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