Re-unite an Aussie Family

More than twenty years ago, in the late 1990s, as a young lady, I was dog-sitting my friend's grumpy silky-terrier dog called Rosie. It was sunny, I was walking Rosie along the foreshore of the southern Western Australian town of Esperance, under the pine trees next to the sea. As we walked past the backpacker youth hostel, I decided to go in and look at the pinboard. There, a young man with blonde hair came up to try and pat Rosie the dog. Rosie was a grumpy-old-lady of a dog, so she just casually snarled at the young man and glared at him. I, however, got chatting to him. He was in town doing some work with an archaeology team in the Esperance area. We realised that we both knew Traditional Owner and elder Aunty Gail Jamieson, and so when he went to visit her the next day, I came along too. This young man and I continued to hang out, we had similar interests and values - wanting to do good work in our communities. The young man's name was Dave and we became firm friends. In the year 2000, when I moved to the town of Broome in the north of our state a couple of years later, we stayed good friends on the phone and regularly emailed pictures of our families as they grew. Dave became not only a best friend, but we grew so close that he became like a brother to me, and I feel that his family is my family also. This year Dave's life changed. His two teenage children - a son and a daughter - are great kids. They were with family in Alaska but were due to come home to Western Australia this year, at the start of 2020 to continue their schooling. However, when the Covid pandemic hit, they got stuck in the US, while their dad Dave and the rest of his family was back here in Western Australia. That was nearly a year ago. Dave and his family have endured this separation from the kids stoically, but as time goes on, it is taking its toll on his heart and wellbeing. It has been an immense emotional struggle for my friend, being forced to be separated from his kids, and the grief and trauma of this is getting more intense as time goes on. Dave has spent a full year on the phone to government departments, international consulates, trying to find a way to bring his kids home. A way has finally opened up, but it is very expensive. The kids can get back to Australia on a rare flight, but the tickets for the two kids will cost AUD $19,000. (*Edit: Tickets have gone up and are now $14K per person.) The reason the flights are so expensive is that the airline is limited to 30 or 40 passengers, and so only sell premium tickets. Dave has always done a lot of volunteer pro bono work in order to support the wider community, and his family is a working class family so they can't cover the flight costs in full. Dave is using credit cards and trying to access his superannuation to raise what funds he can, but there’s still a short fall. If Dave and his family can't find the money soon, the opportunity will vanish. I'm writing to ask you to consider helping my mate Dave bring his kids home. Dave is a good man. He's helped me in life countless times. If you can give any amount, big or small, it would mean the world to me. Together Dave and I have set up a "Go Fund Me" crowdfunding page, where people can donate. You just click on this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/reunite-an-aussie-family?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet. If you can give even a tiny bit, I'd be so grateful. And if you can share this on your social media, or forward it by email, to any of your friends and family who may be able to help, I'd also be really grateful. If you want any more info about Dave's story, feel free to give him a call: 0474105857 (+61 for overseas) and you can also phone me anytime if you have any questions: 0422244145 (+61 for overseas). Thanks for checking out this fundraising page, I love you all. Love Fi. P.S. Please note: I'm helping Dave in my personal capacity as his friend, and please note this is not related to my role as a local government shire councillor. Love and care to you all.