Glenda Smith has been the proprietor of the Australia Hotel on Byron Street for 42 years and says she can’t remember a drought like the one farmers are currently having to deal with.
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No longer able to sit idly by and watch a significant number of her clientele suffer, she decided to contribute to the Buy A Bale New England-North West campaign to raise money to buy hay, water and groceries for farmers as they fight to survive the challenging conditions.
“Without the farmers, our business struggles,” she said.
But it’s not just the drop in business that Mrs Smith is concerned about. She is worried about the rising suicide rate as a result of stress that farmers are facing.
READ MORE: Buy A Bale to help our farmers
“It is a very trying time for them and for all of us,” Mrs Smith said. “The drought is striking at our food supply and that is something that city people don’t understand.”
Though business has died down a bit from one end, Mrs Smith feels lucky that she has had an incidental shift in turnover due to the workmen passing through town. “There’s the wind farm, NBN workers and tree cutters coming to the hotel, but we have noticed that farmers aren’t coming as much.”
“I want to buy a bale and donate money to help them,” Mrs Smith said.
Like Mrs Smith, you can make a donation to the Buy A Bale online portal. Options to help include registering for a donation barrel, gradually filling a load of hay for a farmer with a hay truck poster, and, sponsoring a hay truck.
Funds raised for groceries will be used to buy gift cards at the farmer’s local supermarket. That way, the money will go back into the local economy.
Contribute by visiting https://www.buyabale.com.au/donate/
How is the drought affecting you? Have you thought of a way to help farmers by either fund-raising or sharing resources? Please reach out to us and share your story. Send an email to mary.sinanidis@fairfaxmedia.com.au
