TWO “sizeable” cash donations have enabled Crystal Ocean Wildlife Shelter’s Brenda Marmion to move house.
The animal rescuer and advocate, 74, grappled with uncertainty after being asked to vacate the Golf Parade, Rye, property she and many lost, starving or injured native animals have called home over the past four years.
Ms Marmion, a pensioner and in poor health, said her new Rye bush-block home in Highbury Road was “a bit rough but absolutely ideal” for her needs. She will move in on 21 February.
She said the lead-up to finding the fibro-home was made possuble by donations which allowed her to pay the first month’s rent and bond.
Her good works haven’t gone unnoticed: Ms Marmion was nominated for Australian of the Year in 2016 and she received the Good Neighbour Award last year. Friend and supporter Roslyn Browning said the peninsula’s next closest shelter was at Tyabb.
Ms Marmion will hold a weekend garage sale, Saturday and Sunday 17 and 18 February, at 33 Golf Parade to raise money for the wildlife shelter.
She said her two large and four medium-sized aviaries would be the most difficult items to relocate. “We really need the use of a flat-bed truck,” she said.
Those wishing to help can visit Crystal Oceans Facebook page.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 13 February 2018