SUSAN Curran knows the funds raised from this weekend's Coastal Creative Appeal will go to help people in need.
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The appeal and exhibition will be held at the Civic Centre on the Saturday and Sunday of the upcoming October long weekend at the Ulladulla Civic Centre.
Money raised will help both the bushfire and flood victims.
With the help from a team of volunteers, she started to organise the Coastal Creative Appeal and now they need people to attend the event.
People were asked to donate works for the event and it will display 98 major pieces, along with 50 smaller ones.
Susan said it won't be hard to find people who need the support.
"There are so many people who need help and it's not really that hard to find them," Susan said.
"There are people along this road here [just near Milton] and along every road in the area who have lost their homes."
Susan personally knows about 15 people/families who have lost their homes.
She then points out how close the fire got to her own home - it was too close for comfort.
It was Susan's own experience, during the crisis, that the idea for the appeal came to life.
In the middle of the bushfires, she and her husband got word that they had a brief avenue of opportunity to get some essentials when the road was going to be reopened.
She rushed into town to get some food supplies.
"I got to the checkout and I did not have my wallet," Susan said.
"The next person in the line was Megan Jacobs, who is a local artist, and she paid for my groceries.
"When I tried to pay it back she said 'just pay it forward'."
Later Susan was doing a pottery workshop and it was decided among the group they would give the money to somebody who had lost their house.
She went to put it in the Shoalhaven Mayor's Appeal and she saw a man at a council administration counter who had lost his home.
"Instead of handing the money into the Mayor's Appeal, which is a good cause, I just gave it to him," Susan said.
"He just cried and gave me a hug. He said 'thank you you don't know how much this means. It means I can go an buy some groceries'."
The interaction made Susan feel good.
She also saw that a potter in Melbourne had started a project where you could put a pot online and somebody could buy it and donate the money to charity.
"I did that, it sold straight away and the money went to the Mayor fund," she said.
"I thought 'that was easy and maybe I could do that."
She did and the long weekend event now looms.
It will be held on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm.
Her friends from the Nulladolla Pottery Group and many other members of the arts community have lent their support.
Some of the donated pieces are amazing.
"The quality is way up there," Susan said.
They have 98 major pieces with around 50 smaller ones.
"There is a great cross-section of art and craft works," Susan added.
Well-known artists like Greg Day, Sue Hannah and Ben Quilty donated works.
COVID-19 did not help plans for the appeal.
"It was touch and go if we would be able to stage it and now this [the October long weekend event] is plan D. Plan E was to just do it online but lucky plan D has come through," she said.
Susan thinks given the quality of the donations that they will raise a "fair bit of money".
Around five creative arts groups have supported the event and they will decide where they want their share of the proceeds to go.
Now all she wants is for people to come to the event and make a purchase which will support someone in need.