"They see our shirts and our tabards, and they come over for a hug. We can look after them … they see the Red Cross emblem and they feel comfortable, at ease, they know they’re protected."
Sally says because a lot of other evacuation centres had opened along the South Coast when she first arrived they were short of helpers. “When there’s not enough volunteers you do whatever you can; get hampers together for people, we were cleaning tables, vacuuming floors, helping in the kitchen. Everybody works together … you’re sort of a jack of all trades.
“The agencies, all the volunteers are the same, they’ll pitch in and do whatever needs to be done.”
To Sally volunteering is about doing her bit and helping the community. “Once you start, you can’t give it up, can you? It’s great to be able to get in there and help people.”
More than 2,800 people like Sally have been deployed to help as part of our response to the many bushfires that have hit Australia since July.