A COMMUNITY walk led to a morning of line dancing, traditional games and cakes as Wedderburn rallied to support the family of a toddler who died in a New Year caravan fire.
More than 100 people were part of Sunday’s fundraiser organised by the town’s community house and Rejoov hair salon committee to support Lori and Ben Keeble.
Lori has been a hairdresser at the community enterprise salon since its opened six years ago, with breaks for the birth of her children, including son Carter, 4, who died in the tragic fire in Boort in early January.
“Everyone here is quite close to Lori and we are here to show support,” said organiser Jess Polkinghorne.
She said the community and district communities had been generous in donating raffle prizes. “The whole concept has been to be family orientated including people bringing a plate of food for morning tea,” she said.
Line dancing was run by Dede-Jo Williams with many in the crowd donning cowboy hats in tribute to Carter.
Robyn Vella, who along with Alex Holt helped Jess put the morning together, said: “Lori is a part of our community and we adore her.”
She said the morning raised funds to allow Lori to stay at home while grieving with her family “knowing people love and support them”.
Sunday’s event acted as a fundraiser for the Keeble family. An earlier public appeal after the January 2 fire raised more than $72,000 to assist the family with “financial breathing room”.