ON the smell of an oily rag and the passion of a generous community, a whopping $65,000 was raised for people impacted by the Kangaroo Island fires.
Mayor Karen Williams said local residents, businesses and community groups came together last month at short notice to raise the much needed funding through a sunset cruise and other events.
Cr Williams said the target was $50,000 by Australia Day, but "we well and truly bettered that."
"Local businesses donated money, time and auction items, we had politicians working as waiters on the cruise and we had Redlands finest entertainers donating their talents so the Kangaroo Island community could get back on their feet," Cr Williams said.
Cr Williams said Kangaroo Island mayor Michael Pengilly was overwhelmed by the generosity of locals.
Bowman MP Andrew Laming said: "It's devastating to see the sheer scale of the Kangaroo Island catastrophe. We feel we dodged a bullet this year, and so it falls to us to embrace a community that wasn't so fortunate."
