I’M NO EPIDEMIOLOGIST BUT… The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 34 #42 • Wednesday, March 25, 2020 • www.echo.net.au
Byron pulls together to weather the storm
A helping hand…
Paul Bibby
Mel Williams from the Mullum Neighbourhood Centre with manager Julie Williams and Karen Andrews. Thankfully donations have flowed in, which has meant they can continue to help the most vulnerable. Photo Jeff Dawson
We are all facing a pandemic As COVID-19 unfolds – affecting everyone – here at The Echo we will continue to publish, albeit on a reduced budget and, as you see, in a reduced size. As a locally owned business, we have over 30 employees working each week (now mostly from home), plus dozens more employed delivering the papers. On their behalf, we thank you, not only for your readership, for your support with contributions via our website, but also, vitally, for your advertising – it’s you who keep us going. The most vulnerable members of the community – apart from the elderly – are those on low to middle incomes. They often work in casualised jobs, and have few, if any, savings. As a community, we rely on
them to stock shelves, serve, clean, cook, and transport goods. It’s worth expressing gratitude for what they do, and also those who teach and care for our children. Health professionals deserve our respect too, given they are also frontline workers. There may well be enormous pressure on them in coming weeks and months. Our Shire is heavily reliant on tourism, restaurants, pubs and entertainment-related jobs such as the wedding industry. Many of The Echo’s advertisers are small to medium sized, some with no employees, who are being wiped out economically after years of building up their business. As far as possible, we need to support them too.
It’s vital – more than ever – to be informed beyond the spin and tribalism of political actors. By informing, the media holds the powerful to account, and The Echo is committed to fearless reporting on the government’s response to this crisis, and its effects on our tight-knit community. Just as important is exploring the positive steps that can be taken to lessen these impacts, which will help everyone return to whatever normal is. There will be positives from the chaos. A transformation is now clearly underway, where values are being reassessed. At the end of all this, there will perhaps be a new ‘normal’. The Echo wishes everyone the very best in these trying times.
With dozens of vulnerable locals coming to the Mullum Neighbourhood Centre for help, after they were unable to access tinned food from local supermarkets, owing to panic buying, the Centre only had a day or two of food left. ‘On Monday we got absolutely hammered,’ Centre manager Julie Williams said. ‘We had an inundation of people who were saying, “I just can’t get what we need”.’ Then, amidst the fear and hoarding, people started giving. In an inspiring act of kindness, the Byron Food Hub donated $2,000 worth of bulk food supplies – giving the centre a huge boost. The donation also came from the Hub’s tenants, including Little Valley Distribution, All Good Food Company and Pirlos Wholesalers. Mullumbimby Hire and Sales also donated the use of a mobile cool room so that it could keep these, and other food donations, for longer, ensuring that every item could be given to someone who needed it. This was despite the small company being hit hard by cancellations. ‘It’s actually hard to put into words what this has done,’ Ms Williams said. ‘How beautiful that at a time when people are fearful, and panicked, and worried, they can still dig deep like that and help others out. ‘There are some amazing human beings in this community’. And it didn’t stop there. After putting the word out that they needed help, the Centre has
received everything from individuals dropping in one or two items, to an anonymous person buying $50 through IGA. ‘We said let’s put it out there and ask if people have anything they can drop in, and the response has been amazing,’ Ms Williams said. ‘We’ve had everything from one or two items to an anonymous person buying $50 through IGA, through to Byron Food Hub providing over $2,000 worth of food. It is amazing.’ There have been countless other acts of kindness across the Shire as rainbow residents pull together to support and care for one another.
Byron Centre in need Meanwhile, the Byron Community Centre is asking for donations from the community so that it can continue to provide services to the region’s most vulnerable. With the Byron Markets and the Byron Theatre forced to close, the centre is without funding for the services it provides to seniors and the homeless. General manager Louise O’Connell said that, at the same time, demand for the services was increasing dramatically owing to the sudden economic downturn. ‘If you can help financially on a weekly basis, our community would be most grateful,’ she said. ‘Ten dollars a week provides two female hygiene packs. $50 per week means that we can offer one day of the showers for the homeless program and $150 a week feeds 30 homeless people a hot meal.’ To help, visit www.byroncentre. com.au/donations/bcc.
Byron Shire Find yourself in Being together apart – Uncharted waters Council Mullumbimby with community organisations for our local Notices ▶ p6 our handy map ▶ p14 at work ▶ p16 businesses ▶ p17
Now is the time to love your home and garden ▶ p20