Matt, our friendly Barista and Chef from the Iona Café, made another outreach trip to our struggling farmers recently. Matt collected\ donations of non-perishable food items at our Café to distribute around the Tamworth region. Here is a report from his latest trip:
After collecting non-perishable food items and monetary donations from generous SCAS families and community members, it was time to head West for our second outreach trip to out farmers struggling through the drought.
With the money raised, 20 bales of lucerne hay (an expensive, yet not ‘top grade’ hay) were purchased.
I gave the lucerne to a farmer named Carolyn who lives in Barraba which is about an hour out of Tamworth. Carolyn lives on and runs her property on her own. She was very grateful for the hay as some of her cows were calving.
Some of the non-perishable food items were given to Carolyn. Interestingly, she was really excited to see cappuccino sachets. Most people happily wander down to their local café and buy two $4 coffees a day. Carolyn told me she never gets to buy these for herself as the cattle came first.
This experience gave great perspective. If we consider how much we spend on coffee and how this could be better spent on a couple of non-perishable food items for our farmers and taken to a collection point.
Craig was another farmer my wife and I visited. Craig has 1600 acres in Barraba and around 600 acres in Manila.
When I visited Craig he told me of about six other farming friends who also needed help. I gave the rest of the trailer load to Craig who filled his cattle truck to distribute the items to the farmers over the next two days. Craig has experienced financial struggle due to the drought, picking up odd jobs around properties to get some form of income. Craig has had to reduce his cattle by half due to the lack of feed; his cows are eating dirt and rock.
This trip is not always easy, my wife was heavily pregnant and the trip itself has its expenses such as diesel, trailer hire and accommodation. These things don’t bother me and the trip is worth it. I’m hoping my two sons can learn and follow in my footsteps in giving service to others. I’m hoping to organise another trip later in the year. Thank you SCAS for your support and generosity.
