Anzac spirit shines at Fish Creek
A BAND of volunteers are keeping the Anzac spirit alive by feeding war veterans and their families in need across South Gippsland.
A team of 10 volunteers linked to the Fish Creek RSL sub-branch delivers 400 free meals a month to veterans and relatives in need from Mirboo North to Phillip Island, and Yarram to Cranbourne.
They are paying for their own patrol to deliver frozen quiches, pasta and other dishes to veterans of many wars, from World War Two to the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts.
The meals are prepared in the Melbourne kitchen of aid organisation FareShare and sent to the Fish Creek RSL for distribution to recipients enduring financial hardship.
As the region prepares for Anzac Day commemorations next Monday, April 25, Fish Creek RSL secretary Ros Bryan OAM said the veterans risked their lives for their country and so deserved the care of those they fought for.
“They are our Australian war heroes. We would not be safe if it was not for these veterans,” she said.
FareShare prepares the meals with food donated by supermarkets or food that would otherwise be wasted, and cooks 5000 nutritious meals every day in its Abbotsford kitchen.
Around 400 Victorian charities distribute those meals for free to people in need in their communities.
Some veterans still struggle to return to civilian life, including veterans of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffering post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of their war experiences.
“As the shell explodes near them or a bullet explodes near them, there is a reaction with the veterans. It is a real tragedy. This what scientists are finding out. It causes PTSD,” Mrs Bryan said.
“While the Vietnam veterans went to ground, the Afghan veterans are worse.
“We send our people to war. They do it tough. We have to remember that when it’s a war, you are fighting an unknown enemy, and the bullets and land mines are real, and so is the damage they do. They need help. They need a lot of help.”
She and her team have rescued homeless veterans living beneath bridges in South Gippsland in the past, and arranged accommodation for them in caravan parks.
“They can’t cope with life. They can’t concentrate,” she said.
“We have had some good results. We have had some failures.”
Anzac Day, Mrs Bryan said, was a time to remember the veterans’ contribution to contemporary Australia.
“Every war is different but every person coming back from war is affected,” she said.
“People need to remember the people that went to war and to help the ones that have come back.”
Mrs Bryan was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her services to veterans’ welfare, inspired by her own family’s war service.
Her great grandfather received two Military Crosses in World War One and her father was one of only 16 survivors of the sinking of the Australian warship HMAS Parramatta (II) by the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea during World War Two, with the loss of 138 lives.
Mrs Bryan late husband Arthur Bryan was a naval warrant officer in the Korean War.
The Fish Creek RSL also assists veterans seek counselling and other support through the Department of Veterans Affairs, such as payment for prosthetics, hospital stays and home alterations to accommodate disabilities resulting from military service.
The RSL also distributes furniture to veterans experiencing homelessness, such as after enduring relationship breakdown.
Helping hands: from left, Fish Creek RSL president Mike Lovell, an ex-navy commander, with sub-branch vice president Ian Park, are proud of the sub-branch’s volunteer work in distributing meals to veterans and relatives.
Short URL: /?p=18202
Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Apr 19 2016. Filed under Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
