Dave Conyers and Darrin Ede finally meet for the Fridgy's for Eugowra project

Since devastating flash flooding hit the town on November 14, 2022, Dave Conyers has spent 35 days in Eugowra, determined to replace every single air conditioner, as part of the Fridgy's for Eugowra campaign.

But, this wouldn't be possible without the help of Darrin Ede, the airconditioning business development manager from Beijer Ref.

Thanks to a $35,000 donation from District 9705 of the Rotary Club, Beijer Ref and Mr Ede have been able to provide a multitude of aircon units for the relief project at a heavily discounted rate.

"For us, it was a no-brainer," Mr Ede said.

The decision to assist in the flood relief was a simple one for Mr Ede and his team, as it was a cause that he feels is close to home.

"Whilst I'm born and bred in the city of Sydney, my dad was born in Wellington, and I love coming out here and it's sort of pulled on the heartstrings for me," he said.

The sentimentality of the situation prompted Mr Ede to provide state of the art 'Gree' aircon units at the best possible price.

"They have all the bells and whistles as far as features go," he said.

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These features include a six-year warranty, WIFI connectivity, and can adjust indoor temperature, humidity and air flow automatically to improve comfort levels.

And, despite having provided over 50 units to the cause, Mr Ede feels that the company is playing only a small part in the big picture.

"It's guys like David and more that are giving all their time and effort ... it's a massive project," he said.

The project has seen such a mammoth effort from Mr Conyers, and several other local tradesmen - so much so, that Mr Conyers said in recent weeks, he has physically broken down from fatigue.

"I've been putting 14 to 15-hour days in that heat, it really came to a crunch last weekend, when I physically broke down," he said.

During the summer months, temperatures in Eugowra have reached up to 45 degrees, which has only exacerbated the need to install these units for the townspeople.

The project has seen over 80 airconditioning units installed to date, with the bulk of these being donated by Beijer Ref.

"This is probably the first [project] of its kind in the country, replacing an entire town's airconditioners," Mr Conyers said.

The reaction to this project from the people of Eugowra has been overwhelmingly positive, something that makes Mr Conyers very emotional.

"I probably cry every time I go out there, it's hard not to get emotional," he said.

"There's an incredible response from the community, they feed us up there, they house us, every weekend we've got half a dozen tradies and they're looking after us with our meals.

"We walk into the pub and they give us a beer ticket for 10 beers, and that's every weekend when we go up there."

Mr Conyers and the team of tradesmen working in Eugowra are well on their way to having installed 100 units, a milestone Mr Conyers in looking forward to, so he can invite Mr Ede to the town to see the improvements first-hand.

"When we reach 100 installed, I'll invite Darrin out for a beer," Mr Conyers said.

Mr Conyers expressed his thanks to the team at Beijer Ref, and all those who have donated their time and energy to the cause.

He also encouraged anyone with spare time or resources to help out in the flood relief in any way possible.

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