Domovina uredništvo
On a cool and rainy New Year’s day in Sydney, Australia, a group of prominent Australian-Croatians including Marko Franovic, Božo Franovic, Ivan Spehar, Zvonimir Kurtovic, Tomo Lerotic, Ivica Golubic, Drago Parancin, Petar Mamic, Branko Miletic as well as Consul-General of the Republic of Croatia Ivica Glasnovic and a number of Croatian Catholic Church representatives held an emergency meeting at King Tomislav Club to start to raise funds for the victims of the recent earthquake in Croatia.
The earthquake, which the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said had a magnitude of 6.4, hit 46km southeast of Zagreb on Tuesday on December 29, causing a huge amount of material damage in and around the Petrinja-Sisak-Glina areas of central Croatia, along with at least seven confirmed fatalities. So the new committee, with the working name of the ‘NSW & ACT Committee for Petrinja’ was formed with the aim of helping with the rebuilding of the affected areas, which according to reports were suffering from a lack of basic goods like water, clothing, food as well as living quarters and other shelter during the middle of the northern winter and the ongoing COVID pandemic.
Within some 60 minutes, over $500,000 was raised – mostly from the goodwill and heartfelt donations of Marko Franovic who gave $350,000, his brother Božo Franovic who donated $100,000 and Ivan Spehar who signed off on $50,000. Other money came from the Croatian Catholic Center St. Nikola Tavelic and other Croatian Churches across NSW. The ‘NSW & ACT Committee for Petrinja’ will meet again on Sunday, January 10 in order to finalise their fundraising efforts for the earthquake victims, the proceeds of which will be collected by the Croatian Charity St. Anthony’s Bread, and will be sent to Croatia’s Caritas for dispersal to those affected by this tragedy. If you would like to donate, please go to the following account: St. Anthony’s Bread Commonwealth Bank of Australia BSB: 062-922 ACC: 10207613 Note that all donations are tax deductible within Australia.
