On 21 and 22 February, members of the Busy Bee Deli Bushfire Relief Team have been busy fundraising in Neil McDougall Park, located in Perth’s leafy suburb of Como. Same as the weekend before, Busy Bee Deli owner Gautam “Gem” Gautam and his supporters have been selling cold cans and bottles Gem has donated to the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund in response to January 7 bushfires.

New Australian citizen Gem is no stranger to the heartbreak of losing once entire livelihood to fire. He lost his mini-supermarket on 13 October 2015 in an arson attack on the neighbouring barber shop, depriving him both of the fruits of his hard labour and his only means of providing for his family of 6.

The Busy Bee Deli Fire Appeal Drink Stall will continue to open until the end of March in Windsor Park, next to the Perth Zoo entrance, from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Its goal is to turn $10,000 worth of drinks into $2 coin donations, in support of the victims of the January 7 bushfires.