Council distributes ‘we care’ postcards

The Harvey Shire Council has started a new initiative encouraging residents to help vulnerable members of the community.

COVID-19 has made it difficult for sick and elderly people to go about their daily chores, so the council’s community development team has stepped in to help.

The ‘We Care’ initiative enables community members to give their contact details to their neighbours, who can then call them if they require help.

Everyone within the shire received a postcard which has a name and contact field to fill out, as well as what chores they are willing to help with.

Picking up shopping, walking the dog, taking the bins out, posting mail or checking in with a phone call are all on the list.

Harvey shire chief executive Annie Riordan said the initiative reflected the great community spirit within the shire.

“The community is very connected so this gives people the opportunity to help out,” Mrs Riordan said.

“It is a really lovely initiative.”

There were 11,500 postcards delivered to Harvey, Yarloop, Brunswick and surrounding areas via post.

The postcards were even hand-delivered to residents in the southern end of the shire after the rest were unable to be posted in time. Council staff reached out, quite literally, to deliver the postcards to residents in Australind.

Copies of the postcard can also be downloaded from the council’s website to enable people to drop of more than one postcard.

They are encouraging people to use the hashtag #wecare online.