Community unites to support flood-stricken North Queensland with essential donations at Hinchinbrook Family Day

Families, local stores and big businesses have united to provide Hinchinbrook residents with kids toys, household items and cleaning supplies as they continue to recover from the floods

Residents from Hinchinbrook were welcomed to a family day on Saturday (1/3/25) where they were able to replace any essential items that were damaged during the North Queensland floods due to the generosity of donations from across Townsville.

North Queensland communities still grappling with flood recovery received a much-needed boost from their neighbours, as thousands of essential household items as well as a mammoth cash donation were gifted to disaster-struck residents.

The Hinchinbrook Family Day, hosted at Devietti Ag and Machinery Sales in Ingham on Saturday, welcomed hundreds of residents who had lost essential household items during the North Queensland floods.

The event, organised by Willows shopping centre, saw an overwhelming turnout, not only from those in need but also from volunteers eager to support their fellow community members whether that be handing out items, face painting or cooking up a sausage sizzle.

Fabian Gideon and Donna Lindsay from Willows were key driver's behind the Hinchinbrook Family day

Willows marketing manager Donna Lindsay shared how they aimed to provide as much support as possible to those in the Hinchinbrook region and expressed her gratitude for the incredible generosity of donors.

“One lady dropped off some items and said, ‘I’d usually give more, but I only have $40 left to last me until next week.’ It’s those kinds of stories that really stand out — it’s not always the big numbers, but the people who have little themselves but still want to help. It really makes you feel good,” she said.

A variety of local businesses, alongside larger companies, contributed to the event, with Pillowtalk making a particularly generous donation of $70,000 worth of bed linen.

State member for Hinchinbrook, Nick Dametto, attended the event on Saturday morning and praised the community’s “fantastic” response.

Ingham resident Lisa Celotto, and her three sons, attended the Hinchinbrook family day to replace essential items such as towels and kids’ toys that had been damaged in the disaster

“The whole community is coming together, not only to help those in need and collect donated goods, but also to pitch in with things like the sausage sizzle,” he said.

“We want people to know that if they’ve lost items in the floods, we’ve got everything from home goods to dry goods available.”

“It’s been brilliant over the last couple of days to see the generosity flooding into places like the Hinchinbrook shire.”

Willows marketing manager Donna Lindsay and Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto at the Unite for NQ event at Devietti Ag and Machinery Sales in Ingham. Generous businesses and individual Townsvillians donated thousands of dollars’ worth of badly needed goods to Hinchinbrook residents struck by the flood disaster. Picture: Cameron Bates

Ingham resident Lisa Celotto, and her three sons, attended to replace essential items such as towels and kids’ toys that had been damaged in the disaster.

“It’s been a wonderful experience today, and everyone has been incredibly generous,” she said.

In addition to the warmly received Unite for NQ event, Clubs Queensland donated $75,000 on behalf of its members, including Cowboys Leagues Club and Brothers Leagues Club Townsville, at the Herbert River RSL in Ingham on Friday.

Olivia Briggs and Madeleine D'urso distributing chupa chups at the Unite for NQ event at Devietti Ag and Machinery Sales in Ingham. Generous businesses and individual Townsvillians donated thousands of dollars’ worth of badly needed goods to Hinchinbrook residents struck by the flood disaster. Picture: Cameron Bates

The money was presented directly to the Hinchinbrook Community Support Centre, which provides a range of social and community services.

Clubs Queensland donated $75,000 to the Hinchinbrook Community Support Centre in the wake of the Hinchinbrook flood disaster. Picture: Cameron Bates

CEO Linda McClelland thanked Clubs Queensland and its members for its care for the Hinchinbrook community.

“Over the years our organisation has had damage but this was just next level, we’ve never received flooding like this, including in places that we thought were safe,” she said.

“We are rebuilding but with these funds, we’ll be able to go the extra mile and really reinstate all the services that have been damaged.”

Hinchinbrook Community Support Centre CEO Linda McClelland speaking after receiving a $75,000 donation from Clubs Queensland to help rebuild and provide community assistance in the wake of the Hinchinbrook flood disaster. Picture: Cameron Bates

Ms McClelland said impacted areas that would benefit included its youth space “for vulnerable young people from our community’ and made “bigger and better than it was before”.

“Additionally, we need to be looking at our transport services for the aged (because) we lost one of our buses and that bus was vital for bringing the elderly and young people to our organisation to receive our services.”

Originally published as Community unites to support flood-stricken North Queensland with essential donations at Hinchinbrook Family Day