With bushfires burning in Queensland, Toowoomba Diocese priest Fr Jack MacGinley is keeping his local op shop in Tara open with a sign out front: “Goods all free, clothes all free, help yourself”. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Fr MacGinley said there were people there at 6am yesterday getting clothes and goods.
“They’ve got nowhere to stay, a lot of these people,” he said.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services bushfire warning map shows evacuation orders for properties north of Tara.
Firefighters worked across the weekend to set up a fire break to keep the town safe.
Fr MacGinley, who has lived in Tara for 38 years, celebrated Sunday Mass at the local St Mary of the Angels church.
He said 46 homes had been destroyed by the fires, which have been burning for the past two weeks.
“It’s very tragic,” he said.
Fr MacGinley said more than 200 residents had evacuated to Dalby, where they were staying at a hall in the showgrounds.
Dalby St Vincent de Paul Society president Carmel Hart says they are seeing a lot of urgent requests, with the conference’s 13 volunteers working around the clock, handing out clothes and blankets.
“At the moment, that’s about all we can do,” Mrs Hart said.
“It will be ongoing and down the track when everything settles down, we will know more about what people want.”
FULL STORY
Tara parish priest keeps doors open for people who lost everything in bushfires (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
