Joanne Alderman leads CWA clothing drive for bushfire victims

When the women of East Gippsland’s CWA branch learnt families in bushfire-hit communities didn’t have enough warm winter clothing, they took immediate action. This is what they did.

Joanne Alderman is a past president of the East Gippsland CWA group and organised a clothing drive in April this year to help bushfire-affected communities. Picture: Laura Ferguson

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JOANNE Alderman knows how to give warm fuzzies.

She has a kind smile and listening ear – a must for her role in the CWA – but this Raymond Island resident and her fellow CWA members have delivered actual lifesaving heat this winter, through a warm-clothing drive that helped some of the most isolated communities hit by the East Gippsland bushfires.

“After talking with a group representing East Gippsland farmers, they intimated that many farmers impacted by the drought and bushfires that ravaged this part of the state were in dire need of warm clothing,” said Joanne, who is also on the local shire’s drought reference group.

In response to the concern raised in April, Joanne put the call out to the wider CWA. City branches drummed up donations in a matter of days, then local chapters distributed the garments to Noorinbee, Buchan, Orbost and Bengworden. But the clothing didn’t stop in those towns.

“We had a situation in Bairnsdale where we had a huge amount of items that came in from all over Victoria for fire relief,” Joanne said. “We didn’t want to be giving this clothing to areas who wouldn’t be using it. So we delved a little further into who we could help.”

Clothing was delivered to tiny communities that felt forgotten and left behind in the fire recovery process, including Club Terrace, where 12 homes were destroyed, Wallagaraugh, Wangarabell, Gelantipy, Wroxham, and Wulgulmerang.

“All these communities are still suffering enormously due to COVID-19,” Joanne said. “A lot of them are feeling very isolated still. It was a really fantastic effort by CWA members and something that the local East Gippsland communities desperately needed and accepted with open arms. The one thing about CWA is that people don’t find us threatening. They just accept us for who we are. We do what we can.”

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