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Northern Rivers’ locals recovering from this year’s devastating floods have received a helping hand from a North Sydney real estate office.
LJ Hooker Palm Beach teamed up with Avalon local Lisa Hewitt to host a special dinner that raised $95,000 for the flood-ravaged community.
The $250-a-head dinner was attended by roughly 160 people, with Sydney blues band That Old Chestnut donating their crowd-pleasing performance to the cause.
Hosted at Moby Dicks Whale Beach, the event included an auction boasting more than 40 items. A New Zealand holiday to Queenstown raised $24,000 for the cause, while a custom-made surfboard bundle fetched $17,000. Some winners even donated their prizes back to the cause to be reauctioned.
Ms Hewitt was the brainchild behind the fundraising festivities, having approached the real estate team with the idea of doing something locally and needing a partner to help pull it off.
Amethyst Robinson, a partner at LJ Hooker Palm Beach, said they didn’t hesitate when Ms Hewitt broached the idea.
“Lisa had been driving supplies up to Lismore and called us with the idea of doing a fundraiser – but wasn’t sure about how to go about it – so we jumped on board to make it a reality,” Ms Robinson said.
And she added that the North Sydney community proved eager to rise to the challenge of helping, describing a close relationship between the two localities.
“The Northern Beaches has a kind of ‘sister suburb’ type relationship with the Northern Rivers. A lot of younger families from around here have moved up to the Lismore region for affordability over the past five to 10 years and we couldn’t just sit back here without helping,” she said.
Staff from LJ Hooker Lismore spoke to the guests of the event, describing the damage spread across the area, including to their office, homes, and many of the properties under their purview.
“We know LJ Hooker Lismore lost around 80 properties from their rent roll,” Ms Robinson noted.
The funds raised will directly assist Northern Rivers’ locals seeking to return to their homes or find new housing.
“These are people who couldn’t afford insurance because the premium is so high due to previous floods. We are focusing on what is the first thing people need when they finally get back under a permanent roof and that will be beds and refrigerators,” she said.
LJ Hooker Foundation spokesperson Sarah Dickson described the effort from the Sydney team and their surrounding community as an embodiment of the type of attitude the brand seeks to foster.
“It is wonderful to see LJ Hooker Palm Beach going above and beyond to raise much needed funds to assist those who have lost everything in the devastating floods.
“It’s a true testament to their community spirit, especially for a community that’s over 700km away,” Ms Dickson said.
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