MUNDARING’S Possum Valley Animal Sanctuary (PVAS) was the lucky recipient of a community donation led by landscaping company Perth Garden Rescue (PGR), which saw five volunteers attend the sanctuary to help with storm recovery.

PGR owner and manager Duncan Blandford said a poll was posted on their Facebook page in March and the community was given the opportunity to vote for who they wanted to win.

The poll listed a variety of Perth Hills organisations which Mr Blandford said fit the rescue team’s scope of work.

He said the scope was either a large clean up or a low maintenance landscaping job.

In Perth Hills storm damage (Echo News, February 21), it was reported a wild storm led to power outages and damaged properties across Mount Helena, Stoneville, Mundaring, Gidgegannup, Chidlow and surrounds.

PVAS president Chris Rafferty said the team at the sanctuary were excited when they heard they won the poll because they were exhausted from cleaning and there was still a lot of work remaining.

“The storm caused a number of downed fences, destroyed shelters, a water tank, bore fittings, and knocked over or damaged trees throughout the property.

“We were without power for over five days, which meant much of the animals’ fresh produce in the cool room needed to be disposed of.”

Mr Rafferty said the safety of the animals was prioritised.

“Our priority was that all animals were safe and that fences were reinstated to prevent them wandering off the property.

“A number of shelters were damaged or destroyed, so temporary repairs and rebuilding has also been a priority.”

He said the cleanup day would be a huge help in getting the sanctuary back on its feet, which would allow it to hold fundraising events and tours.

PGR spokesperson Pauline Daly said the team of five cleared and stacked eight tipper trailer loads of debris into burn piles and wood piles.

“Our team found this job extremely rewarding and were happy to work hard for six hours to clean up as much as they could,” she said.

She said the team found it humbling to help an organisation which relies heavily on volunteers and donations.

PVAS vice president Mark Hayman thanked the PGR team and said the main pathways, driveways and paddocks have been cleared but there is still some work left to do.

Mr Hayman said they are expecting more frequent and intense storms in the future.

“We are working on removing or pruning precarious and damaged trees.

“We are also working to raise the level of some shelters to prevent flooding, dig channels and moats, build larger and more secure shelters and driveway contours to better channel our runoff.”

PGR’s Mr Blandford said this was the first year they’ve held a community uplift donation.

He said PGR wanted to return the gratitude they felt toward the Perth Hills community.

“The thing we love about being in the hills is the connection we have.

“People love to support local businesses.

“We have certainly felt supported and this was our chance to give back to our hills community.”

Meanwhile, the state government recently announced disaster recovery assistance for communities impacted by the February and March storms.