Generous high students to host bushfire victims

Andrew Mathieson
BIG-HEARTED Geelong students will lavish thousands of dollars worth of free gifts, accommodation and discounts on Black Saturday bushfire victims.
Geelong High School will roll out the red carpet for 120 visiting students including several from one of the hardest hit towns, Marysville, in an act of generosity spanning nine months.
School chaplain Jane Carrigg said her students had a “big response” to Black Saturday.
“Within a week they just rattled buckets and got $5000 to send away,” she said.
The students had since donated a “couple of car loads” of food, clothes, furniture, beds and even pets’ goods to bushfire-ravaged communities, while a class had run a successful barbecue fundraiser.
Ms Carrigg said the school had rallied support from Geelong businesses and retailers to support the students’ visit, which would last a couple of days.
They would stay for free in cabins at tourist parks along the Barwon River even though operators could have rented them to visitors attending a Head of the River rowing regatta, she said.
A luxury hotel had given generous discounts, fast food outlets on Ryrie Street would donate free food vouchers, while City Hall had contributed $3000 for transport costs.
Ms Carrigg said barbecues at Eastern Beach, picnics at Barwon Heads and Christmas shopping in central Geelong were also part of the show of community spirit.