Rapid Relief Team Supporting Storm Response

Plymouth Brethren Christian Church volunteers with the Rapid Relief Team (RRT) have been on hand to help the State Emergency Service (SES) in the Hunter region after destructive storms lashed New South Wales (NSW) in Australia with damaging winds and heavy rain.

RRT volunteers have served up almost 1,000 freshly cooked meals for the SES crews in Maitland, Port Stephens and Newcastle, keeping them well-fed as they responded to thousands of incidents in the wake of Wednesday’s wild weather.

The RRT crew in Maitland also put on a BBQ lunch for residents in Woodbury, after their homes lost power in the storm.

RRT Local Team Leader Josh Willy said his crew of 20 volunteers has also handed out 500 lunch packs to the SES workers as they tackled their mammoth clean-up task.

“The SES does an amazing job in miserable conditions, dealing with fallen trees, power outages, flooding and other storm damage, so the RRT volunteers are more than happy to be there to make sure they can warm up with a fresh burger or a hot dinner,” said Josh.

“We were called in to help shortly after the wild weather hit last week – since then, we’ve served more than 940 meals and 500 lunch packs. We also put on a BBQ lunch for Woodbury residents, who were without power for days after the storm, so hadn’t had a hot meal in days.

“As long as the SES needs us, we will be there, and we know they really appreciate the support.”

As the charitable arm of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, RRT supports frontline workers and emergency services by providing food, donations and other resources, as well as hosting events for the community.

Established in 2013 to assist emergency services in times of disaster and crisis by providing meals and other support, it’s expanded to more than 14,500 volunteers and provides support to the community through charitable donations and events. For more information on RRT, please go to //www.rrtglobal.org/