We often forget to thank people who step up in times of adversity.  Quite apart from the group of people who perform regular community service, it is a pleasure to acknowledge those who catapulted themselves into action when they saw need in a difficult time. Recently several Joy Global employees in Queensland, Australia were directly impacted by Tropical Cyclone Marcia; there were also many employees who acted in consideration of others:

Heather and Walter took time out to help a Yeppoon local salvage as much from her damaged property as possible, while also trying to herd her chickens. They also took a nine-hour round trip to bring a couple of generators from Mackay; one being given to another family.

Phil and his wife Lyn picked up and dropped off carloads of donated goods. Lyn started a donations drive when she discovered a young family had been left with nothing. This turned out to be the case for many families. The community did indeed rally and Lyn was a driving force.

Kory spent several days cutting down trees and clearing paths into rural properties; Steve spent hour upon hour repairing rural fencing for family and friends; John spent time chopping trees to clear roads in Byfield; Mark participated in clean-ups with the Rural Fire Brigade.

Tracey held an open house with people coming to stay who were in need of a shower and a bed for the night. She donated considerable contents of the linen closet to Lyn. Tracey’s sons Nathan and Joshua helped move the belongings of a former employee’s daughter after her home was deemed uninhabitable.

Greg became involved with Meals on Wheels, delivering food to those who are unable to cater for themselves. Greg has opted to continue assisting MoW on a regular basis.

This list is certainly not exhaustive. You may call these acts good deeds, or you may just view them as acts of decency. We are certain there are many more who should be named here and would like to take the opportunity to thank you too! We remain grateful for no loss of life; we are forever grateful to the men and women of the SES, the Armed Forces, the Fire and Ambulance and Police Service and the local hospitals and doctors. The proactive planning and subsequent actions taken by all involved to clean up and make safe this area, has been second to none. We’d like to pass on our respects to all of you.