Transport company Shepparton Express National has donated their time and services to delivering 130 pallets of food for bushfire relief efforts in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.
Director SE National Joshua Sfetcopoulos said logistics company Primary Connect were orchestrating the initiative with Foodbank and reached out to him and other Shepparton businesses to contribute.
“As soon as I heard from the guys at Primary Connect, I jumped on board straight away,” he said.
“We're a regional town, I know people that have been personally affected, and their businesses have been affected.
“I'm sure my drivers and other employees know people that have been affected, obviously we're country people.
“I look at it (the bushfires) from a business point of view, these communities have lost their livelihoods.
“How are they going to rebuild their economy if they don't have food?”
Mr Sfetcopoulos said the first of three trucks was set to reach a Foodbank distribution centre in Sydney on Monday morning.
“Foodbank requested, in an email to gather donations of bottled water, UHT milk, canned meals, canned fruit, sports drinks, rice and noodles,” he said.
“I've probably donated a couple of days of my time, doing a few hours here, a few hours there.
“My brother, Anthony is managing operations and he has helped out with the initiative too.
“I have to give a lot of credit to the people at Primary Connect for organising all this and the people at Foodbank,” he said.
● People who want to contribute to the fund can do so by visiting vic.gov.au/bushfireappeal
Other appeals The News recommends for donations include Shepparton Bushfire Appeal on Facebook and wildlifevictoria.org.au
Given anyone can set up a GoFundMe page, fraud is a possibility, and we encourage people to verify where their funds are going before donating.