The Medowie Bale Out The Drought campaign looks set to smash its fund-raising aim with residents digging deep in the first two weeks to raise more than $14,000.

The aim for the month-long campaign, running until August 12, was to raise $20,000 but Port Stephens councillor Chris Doohan, who is also one of the event organisers, said they had been “overwhelmed” with support.

As of July 29 the campaign had $14,650 in cash and raffle prizes donated.

“It has been sensational, to say the least,” he said. “We’ve even had two young boys empty their piggy banks to donate. That was such a beautiful gesture.”

Seth, aged 9, and Deagan, aged 7, emptied their individual piggy banks and donated the total, $31.10, to the campaign.

The campaign will finish with a final push at the Bull n Bush Hotel in Medowie on August 12 where raffles will be drawn, and auctions will take place.

The money raised will be donated to Rural Aid, an established charity that runs the well-known Buy a Bale campaign.

Mr Doohan said he and event organisers Ben Niland and Rod Kerr have asked Rural Aid to keep the money raised in Medowie in the Hunter.

However, the Mr Doohan said they understood if it could not especially if there were other areas doing it tougher than the Hunter.

According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries, drought is now affecting 99 per cent of the state.

The DPI Combined Drought Indicator shows that the Hunter is among the areas suffering drought and intense drought.

“This campaign has really brought the community together,” Mr Doohan said. “The awareness it has created for this crisis, and it is a crisis, is phenomenal.”

Mr Doohan said he hopes to “pass the baton” to other Port Stephens towns such as Nelson Bay or Raymond Terrace once the Medowie campaign had ended.

Source: Port Stephens Examiner

Central west residents will have another reason to feel good about recycling thanks to a new partnership between Return and Earn and Buy A Bale.

Residents can donate their Return and Earn refunds to NSW farmers and rural communities currently being crippled by drought.

Return and Earn Network operator TOMRA announced the drought relief charity will become an official donation partner on Reverse Vending Machines (RVM’s) from August 27.

It will allow 10c refunds on eligible drink containers to be donated to those affected by the drought.

From August, 27 to November 25, Buy a Bale will appear as an official donation partner on all RVM screens to give recyclers another way to contribute their funds directly into the Buy a Bale relief fund.

Simply return your containers, then choose the ‘donate’ option on the RVM screen and select ‘Buy a Bale’ from the list of four charity partners.

If everyone donated just one of every 10 containers they return, we would raise up to $20,000 a day for NSW farmers

Ryan Buzzell, TOMRA CEO

The money will go towards rural NSW farmers and communities struggling to survive the harsh drought plaguing the state – providing them with much needed support like hay and other essentials to give them a fighting chance in these tough times.

But for those residents looking to donate to farmers immediately they can use a special ‘Buy a Bale’ barcode when visiting any of the 270 RVMs across the state.

The 10c per container refund will then be automatically sent to the Buy a Bale drought relief fund.

TOMRA CEO Ryan Buzzell said after seeing the harsh reality facing farmers and being inspired by the wider NSW community’s eagerness to band together, they were keen to get involved.

“With an average of two million containers being returned every day across NSW, if everyone donated just one of every 10 containers they return, we would raise up to $20,000 a day for NSW farmers,” he said

“So we’re encouraging everyone to give as generously as they can over the next four months.”

Every 200 containers returned will provide one small hay bale for farmers in need.

Plus every 1,100 containers returned will purchase a large hay bale, and every 95,000 containers returned is the equivalent of a semi-trailer load of hay.

Rural Aid CEO, Charles Alder, said even at the best of times, farmers and rural communities are faced with some of the most severe conditions, so every donation, no matter how small, can mean the difference between devastation and survival.

“All it takes is something as simple as a bale of hay or a container refund donation to serve as a reminder that the rain might have dried up but Australians’ willingness to support each other never will,” Mr Alder said.

The ‘Buy a Bale’ barcode can be found on the myTOMRA Australia Facebook page or at www.mytomra.com.au, and scanned before recycling at the front of every RVM.

Source: Western Magazine 

Penrith Panthers is leading the charge to help drought-stricken western NSW farmers survive unprecedented conditions.

The club will give $100,000 to the Buy A Bale Western NSW campaign – a partnership between Fairfax Media,Macquarie Radio and charity Buy A Bale – in Sydney on Friday.

The vital injection is equivalent to about 900 round bales of hay.

But the club isn’t stopping there.

Panthers general manager Phil Gould will make another drought-support announcement on Channel 9 on Thursday.

It comes after Woolworths pledged its support for farmers with a $1.5 million donation to the overall Buy A Bale campaign.

The supermarket giant has put $1.2 million of this towards buying hay, water and groceries for struggling farming families.

The remaining $300,000 will fund two extra counsellors in Rural Aid’s mental health program, the first face-to-face farmer counselling service in NSW.

Rural Aid CEO and Buy A Bale founder Charles Alder said more than 70 farmers were registering for assistance across the state every week and he expected that number to rise as conditions became worse.

Truck loads of hay have been arriving at farms across western NSW since the campaign started in June.

“Every donation, no matter how big or small, helps to provide some relief to our farmers,” he said.

You can donate or register for assistance at buyabale.com.au 

Source: Western Advocate