By Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Hillcrest CFA fourth lieutenant Rochelle Poulton has raised over $4000 worth of batteries during the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb event.
It all started in 2018 where Ms Poulton and her sister who was also a Hillcrest CFA member at the time, would collect the batteries together, even though her sister left the brigade to move elsewhere, she continued the legacy year-after-year.
“I’ve always done it because it’s something I strongly believe in,” she said.
For many, collecting old batteries is the last thing they’d want to do, but for Ms Poulton, she’s the first to put up her hand for the challenge.
Collecting old batteries is one of her main fundraisers that she’s always been part of.
Stair Climb raises money for its’ three foundations which are Triple Zero Foundation, Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation and Lifeline.
“For me personally, it’s for the mental health, I can’t say I have been touched by the cancer side of things, which I’m very grateful for, but mental health has touched people that I know, especially within emergency services, and it’s really important to raise awareness on it, especially with the work that we do and the things we see from time-to-time,” she said.
“At the start, I’d only collect around 70 batteries and then as every year went on, I just started collecting more and more, and to the point where I just wanted to beat my record every single year,” she said.
“I’d like to raise money for it and help raise awareness around it, every year I try to encourage our members to participate and every year we get more members joining this cause, which is really nice.”
This year, she managed to break her previous records and collected an eye watering five-point-four tons of used batteries – even she’s amazed at her new records.
The batteries were then recycled with the Norstar Steel Recyclers, a special rate per kilo was paid for everyone in the climb and Ms Poulton managed to raise over $4600 with the used batteries.
She has gathered the community’s trust over the years with her generous time and efforts –and she has no trouble hunting down them old batteries.
“Facebook is really helpful with finding them, everyone knows me as the person who collects batteries and word gets spread around,” she said.
“A lot of the time, I have people reaching out to me whom I’ve never met before because they’ve gotten my contact number from someone else to donate their old batteries.”
Ms Poulton is more energised and determined than ever before to raise awareness and funds for a cause that’s close to her heart.
“I would like to beat the record again next year for myself, although I probably will regret saying this because it is a lot of batteries,” she said.
“If anyone does have any batteries, I encourage them to reach out to me, or just go to the scrapyards in general, and just dispose of them safely, to make sure that they’re not a hazard to anyone.”
Ms Poulton said she’s extremely grateful to everyone who helped raise money, whether it’s from donating batteries or donating money.
The Stair Climb is not limited to just Victorian CFA members, but it’s open to all firefighters across the country and even other countries.
If you have old and used batteries that you’d like to get rid of, get in touch with Hillcrest fire brigade on Facebook or call Ms Poulton on her mobile, 0472 610 029.
She’s happy to travel to the pickup location as she has done in the previous years.
