R ES I L I E NCE O N T H E L A N D
OVERCOMING ADVERSITIES
TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE!
O
ur 2018 WNA Christmas Charity
Luncheon held in November was another
successful event where we were able
to make a financial donation of $4500
to support Drought Angels. This amazing little
charitable organisation has a huge heart and
provides relief for Aussie Farmers and their
Families around Australia who are experiencing
droughts, bushfires and floods. It started back
in January 2014 when Natasha Johnston and her
friend Nicki Blackwell felt compelled to help
struggling farmers who were desperate to just
put food on the table for their families. They
loaded up a ute and with a trailer full of supplies,
including stock feed, they headed off to see what
they could do to make a difference.
Over the past five years Drought Angels has grown
from working out of shipping containers in a
backyard to having a warehouse and Charity Shop
in Chinchilla with 3 staff and 50 volunteers. They
now fill road trains with stockfeed and groceries
to help even more farming families. Drought
Angels members Tash and Carissa travelled down
from Chinchilla to join us at the WNA luncheon
and explained how important our donation would
be to making a positive difference to hundreds of
families over Christmas who are determined to
tough it out and remain on the land. These kind
of cash donations are converted into prepaid
visa cards and store vouchers as these are the
most practical gifts that enable Farming Families
to purchase what they need locally. This helps
support the local economy and small business
owners to continue to operate and employ local
people.
Farmers Wives, Tracey Rieck and Vicki Hinrichsen
from KalFresh also shared their remarkable
success story about the Just Veg brand of fresh
products. Just Veg. gives new life to the ‘wonky’,
yet tasty carrots that are available in over 650
Woolworth Stores around Australia. They come
pre-packed sliced, shredded and diced making
food preparation simple and nutritious for busy
families as well as reducing landfill waste.
To add to our country theme young Brisbane
based singer songwriter Laura Louise entertained
us with songs from her new album and her
recently released single – Storm in a Tea Cup.
Laura Louise mentioned that the inspiration for
her songs often comes from being back out in
the country sitting around a campfire talking and
singing. This young woman has so much passion
in her heart and a big future. She received the
2018 QMusic’s Brisbane BIGSOUND Bursary and
we wish her well in her music career.
This was very successful collaborative event with
our WNA Members, sponsors and guests to reach
out and lend a helping hand. Many of our WNA
members come from the country and still have
family living out there too, so it was a very special
opportunity to be able to give something back.
As the old saying goes “you can take the girl out of
the country but you can’t take the country out of
the girl.”
While the drought has slipped off the national
news, and certainly some storms have delivered
good rain to isolated pockets and more recently
tragic flooding. Farmers enjoy what they do and
where they do it and most are happy being left
alone but right at the moment many are facing
some of the biggest hurdles of their life. If you
know a farmer in business, or someone who
works in agriculture and haven't spoken with
them for some time give them a call tomorrow
and ask "How are you going?"
For futher infomation or to donate:
https://www.droughtangels.org.au/
AUTHOR
CHRIS KNIGHT
Women’s Network Australia National
Rural & Remote Ambassador
Contact: +61 403 177 012
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-knight-906a703 4