Jeff Kinder is a man with a kind heart. During the flooding that engulfed much of the Goulburn Valley, he offered refuge on his hobby farm near Katandra for anyone seeking high and dry ground for themselves and their livestock.
Mr Kinder has owned the 15-acre hobby farm for many years due to his love of horses and when the flood waters rose he knew he had to do something.
After seeing people camped at the Shepparton Showgrounds, Mr Kinder posted on Facebook’s Cobram 3644+ page on Monday, October 17 an invitation for those in distress to shelter at his hobby farm.
“When people are in trouble, you can’t do anything about flood or fire … (but) it’s probably one less stress for people having to think about their animals while trying to save their houses at the same time,” Mr Kinder said.
Thankfully, despite the offer of shelter, Mr Kinder has not been called upon by anyone in distress.
As for recognition, Mr Kinder sought none. Instead, he believed what he did was just fulfilling a duty to his fellow Australians.
“Just about anyone with the capacity would do it,” he said.
“It was pretty straightforward, I thought. We had the room.”
The floods have affected large areas of the region and inundated the towns of Benalla, Seymour, Rochester, Shepparton, Mooroopna and Echuca.
The towns are built on a flood plain, with the Murray, Campaspe, Goulburn, Broken River’s as well as Seven Creeks flowing through the area.