Flooding in Mooroopna left families stranded in their homes, and with their local Woolworths closed and the causeway cut off for several days, access to food and other essentials was difficult.
For some, they weren’t even able to drive to Tatura for groceries.
Sitting in front of the television and watching the floods being reported on the news one night, 13-year-old Kyane O’Connor decided this wasn’t good enough.
“When the floods happened it didn’t really come up to our driveway, so we were able to go to the shops,” Kyane said.
“Then I thought, what about the people in Mooroopna? They’re stranded, so why can’t we go down and help them?”
Kyane’s dad, Chris, was all for the idea.
“We’ve got friends and family over there that were stranded in their home because of the flooding and had heard they needed some groceries. So Kyane said, let’s bike over there and deliver them some groceries,” Chris said.
“We were eligible for flood assistance payments and Kyane saw that on the news and said, why don’t we use that money to help others instead.”
“So I said, let’s do that, I’m your dad, I’ll go with you and we can do it together.
“We used to live in Mooroopna and only moved to Shepparton a few months ago, and I just thought if we stayed that would have been us. We would have been flooded out.”
Chris put up a post on the Shepparton Floods 2022 Facebook page voicing his concern for Mooroopna residents, saying he and Kyane would be helping out and taking over supplies for those that needed it.
One of the calls for help was from a Mooroopna mother who was running out of baby formula and was unable to find any in Tatura.
“We also gave her some chocolates too so she could relax and not feel stressed anymore,” Kyane said.
“I feel proud that we were able to help her and other people.
“I was glad it was me and Dad doing it instead of someone saying I’ll get that and expect something in return. We just wanted to help people without expecting anything in return.”
On Tuesday afternoon Chris and Kyane stocked up on groceries and rode to Mooroopna on the causeway, which was open for bikes and walking at the time.
They made another trip there later that night and more again on Wednesday.
“The water was really high in some areas when we arrived but luckily we managed to get the groceries to everyone we delivered to,” Kyane said.
“I just thought, it’s better than sitting at home thinking the people in Mooroopna are okay when they may not be.”