Shoppers helping farming families
Thousands of grocery shoppers opened their wallets to get behind Drought Action Day, raising more than $5.8 million for drought affected farmers and communities. Anna Simonds reports.
Woolworths joined forces with the Country Women’s Association (CWA) again this year to donate the entire day’s profits of 15 February 2008 to help Australian farming families. More than 765 Woolworths and Safeway supermarkets donated their profits from across Australia—exceeding the $5 million target.
The CWA used two-thirds of the funds raised to distribute emergency aid grants to families in need. The remaining one-third of funds was provided to Landcare to help farmers improve sustainable management of their farms.
This year’s Drought Action Day raised around 25 per cent more money than the inaugural appeal last year. The CWA helped more than 3000 farming families with the funds raised in 2008. The emergency aid grants help families in need pay their emergency household accounts as well as health expenses, fuel costs and costs involved with children going to school.
The funds raised also help the CWA to ensure that sustainable agriculture projects are continued—which will help farmers deal with droughts into the future.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr Tony Burke, joined Woolworths Chief Executive Officer, Mr Michael Luscombe, at Queanbeyan’s Woolworths store to launch the national appeal.
With the help of local farmers, the store’s car park was transformed to resemble a farmyard—complete with piglets, goats, cattle, farm machinery, hay bales and an award-winning country singer—to help get shoppers in the mood to spend up big for the drought appeal.
‘So many people came into our stores on Drought Action Day last year to do their shopping as their way of helping raise funds for farmers in need,’ Mr Luscombe said.
‘We will raise funds again [today] for the CWA because the drought is still ravaging Australia and we still have a long way to go in getting the farming sector back on its feet.’
Minister Burke said: ‘The Woolworths donation will provide assistance to both ends of communities in need—with practical aid being directed through the CWA, and sustainable farming programs run through Landcare.
‘The work of the CWA is done in ways that are indefinable, successfully bringing rural communities together.
‘By choosing the CWA to administer the funds raised, Woolworths are acknowledging the real work the organisation does in rural communities every day of the year.
‘Woolworths’ donation will complement the $16 million already provided by the Australian Government to the CWA emergency drought grants program since 2002,’ Mr Burke said.
For more information on government assistance available to drought affected farmers call the Australian Government’s Drought Assistance Hotline on 13 23 16.