A father and daughter have banded together to help bring some relief to farmers in the Bega Valley struggling with the drought.
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Elizabeth Lucas said she got involved with Doing It For Our Farmers when she was in Cooma and realised there was not a lot of charities donating to farmers around Bega.
“I started with one or two bags, then all of a sudden I had oodles of them!” the coordinator of the program in the Bega Valley said.
Along with her father Malcolm Lucas, she helps organise the construction and delivery of donations of hampers to farmers in need.
READ MORE: Rain welcomed across Bega Valley
She said the hampers were worth about $300 each and 18 had been donated so far over the last six weeks that the program had been running in the region.
There are general hampers, which contain items such as canned food, toiletries, dog and cat food and some luxuries, as well more specialised hampers such as for people with babies.
“A lot of locals have been donating, but this stuff we’ve just received I have no idea where it comes from,” Ms Lucas laughed.
“We just got a call saying there was a lot of stuff at Southern Farm Supplies. But a lot of locals do donate.”
She is calling for more donations, saying they were asking for more items to put into the hampers.
“If we don’t have our farmers they can’t produce the milk or the goods people need,” she said.
“My plan is to keep going for as long as we can. While there is a drought and we’ve got donations are coming in, I’ll keep doing it.”
The farmers who had received donations so far had been “really, really grateful”, Ms Lucas said.
“I had one person cry the other day,” she said.
“She hugged me and cried and said ‘I didn’t think I deserved this’.
“But all of them deserve it.”
If we don’t have our farmers they can’t produce the milk or the goods people need.
- Doing It For Our Farmers' Elizabeth Lucas
There are several drop-off points people can take donations to, including: 22 Meringo St, Bega; Mal’s Pizza Bite, Bega; Robert Smith Homemakers, Pambula; Neilsons Mitre 10, Bermagui; and Club Sapphire, Merimbula.
Donations should be non-perishables, canned items, dog or cat food, gift cards or toiletries.
For more information contact Ms Lucas on 0427 552 642 or elizabeth_lucas_2@hotmail.com, or her father on 0448 728 456 or mtlucas55@hotmail.com.
Albert McKnight
Journalist at Bega District News.
Journalist at Bega District News.
