Eighteen Cobar families received a donation of fodder and food items from the Hamilton community in Victoria on Saturday, which is to be followed up this weekend with a large delivery of hay from the Lions Club District 201N4.
Mayor Lilliane Brady said council was delighted to have received the donations and to help with their distribution.
“We know how tough our farmers are doing it and this kind donation by the Lions Club and our wonderful farmers and volunteers in Hamilton will provide some assistance in the drought,” Cr Brady said.
The donation from the Hamilton community was coordinated by the Schultz family after Dash Schultz said to his wife Malinda: “I wish there was something we could do to help”.
Malinda said she then put a call out on social media to see if people were interested in helping and researched which areas were the most drought affected.
“I contacted the Cobar council and asked if they needed help and wanted help and then we started collecting,” Malinda said.
She said at first they were worried that they wouldn’t get a lot of donations, however Dash said even if they only got a small amount they would just post it up.
The Hamilton community however proved to be very generous and the couple travelled to Cobar on Friday with their young family in tow, along with two volunteer truck drivers.
Two semi trailers loaded with hay, and a trailer packed with food, toiletries and dog food, assembled at Ward Oval on Saturday morning to distribute the donated fodder and goods to 18 registered local farmers.
“This is amazing,” Mayor Brady said of the Schultz family’s efforts.
Mayor Brady was also pleased to report that more trucks, organised by Lions, will be delivering a “significant” load this weekend.
Cr Brady said the decision regarding which farmers would receive this donated hay was not determined by council, but by the Lions Club.
She said the Lions Club organisers had made a stipulation that landholders who wished to receive a donation had to be registered with council and that the fodder was to go to farmers who rely only on farm income.
