The Salvation Army Queensland Disaster Relief Appeal will be boosted by $500,000 today thanks to Australia’s leading residential home building company - the Alcock Brown-Neaves Group (ABN Group). The money was raised after the Osborne Park-based company pledged to donate $1,000 for every home sold across Western Australia and Victoria during January and February 2011, with a minimum guarantee of contributing $500,000 to help rebuild the lives of Queenslanders affected by the major disaster. ABN Group managing director Dale Alcock said the company had made the decision to help after seeing vision of the devastation caused by the torrential rains at the start of the year, and was genuinely thrilled to be handing over a cheque for $500,000 during mid-March. “As a tightly knit team, everyone working for the ABN Group found it distressing to see hundreds of homes devastated and even washed away by the flood waters, and we felt determined to help however we could,” said Mr Alcock. “As Australia’s leading residential home builder we really wanted to help Queenslanders re-build their lives and hopefully this donation will assist many hundreds of people to do just that.” Public Relations Secretary of The Salvation Army Warren Palmer said that even though Queensland, and indeed the whole country, has been hit with several natural disasters in recent months, it was heart-warming to see how businesses and community members had pulled together to help those in need. “It is truly inspiring to see how companies like the ABN Group have jumped on board to help out Queenslanders in their time of need,” said Mr Palmer. The ABN Group recently donated $95,000 to The Red Cross Victorian Flood Appeal and, in Western Australia, $100,000 to the Lord Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund. Building over 3,500 homes per year, the ABN Group encompasses six of Western Australia’s top residential building companies including Webb & Brown-Neaves, Dale Alcock Homes, APG Homes, Celebration Homes, Homebuyers Centre and TR Homes.