Hunter communities rally to raise money for drought-affected farmers

Numerous charity drives have taken place – or are planned for the coming months – to help farmers who have been waiting for meaningful rain for many months.

Organisers of the Fill a Truck For Farmers campaign finished packing the last of 10 trucks full of donated goods on Friday afternoon ready to head west on Saturday morning, to help producers who have fallen through the cracks

“It just goes to show no matter who you are, where you are, if we all band together we can do amazing things,” Phil George, one of the organisers, said.

Meanwhile, a group of Newcastle venues will donate proceeds from selected menu and beverage items to the Buy A Bale campaign on August 26 – participating venues that aren’t usually open on Sundays will hold the offer the day prior.

Establishments such as The Happy Wombat, The Grain Store and Foghorn Brewhouse are among the businesses taking part.

A charity ball dubbed Frock Up For Our Farmers will be held in the Starlight Room at West’s New Lambton on November 17. Tickets are available online, with all profit from the event going to charity Drought Angels.

“For me, my husband’s family is in farming,” said Laura Strong, who is organising the event with Jane McIntosh, Kelly Nee and Kellee Thomson. 

“Every time we get together the conversation was always ends up back at what’s going on. We just kept thinking, ‘we’ve got to do something’.”

There will be a bus trip to drought-affected communities in September. Grace Coaches has donated the use of a luxury coach to take people on an overnight trip from Newcastle to Coonabarabran to meet farmers as part of the We Care Road Trip.

Anyone who has made a minimum of $75 donation to one of four major drought charities can register for a seat on the bus.

Many schools have also been hard at work fundraising, including Biddabah Public School, which has raised more than $3600 in the past week.

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