The devastation might no longer be front and centre but the impact of the summer's bushfire calamity is continuing to be felt.
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The fires created enormous havoc in various areas across the Border region, especially in the Corryong district and adjacent areas in NSW.
And while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have all our attention, the simple fact is that the residents of these fire-impacted areas still face significant day-to-day challenges.
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Specifically, it is the demand for emergency relief that is the enduring reality.
That is certainly what is being experienced by Corryong FoodShare Services.
Once the organisation would have opened its doors for a single day a week, but such has been the demand from people whose lives were thrown into chaos by the fires that that has been expanded to five days a week.
The change, implemented in January, has had to be brought about because this means the world of difference for close to 100 families - spread across a large area, about half the size of Towong Shire.
That is for the basics that many do take for granted: for food and water, for clothes and basic furniture.
A small army of volunteers is involved in trying to make sure this demand is met, something no doubt exacerbated by the beginning of winter and already hamstrung by the movement restrictions that have been in place because of COVID-19.
For these people, they don't even have adequate housing to shut out the winter cold.
As Pastor Allen explains, "the biggest issue is warm accommodation because some people are still sleeping in caravans and tents. One couple from the Nariel Valley have started to put a shed up but they need carpet to go down. It's all very pressing; everything has been held up by COVID-19."
We would certainly urge anyone who can help in any way, whether by way of donations or volunteering, to contact Corryong FoodShare by visiting the website corryong.asn.au.
