Recently announced expansions at Aussie Helpers demonstrate the urgent ongoing need in rural Australia for drought aid, according to founder, Brian Egan.
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At the beginning of July, Brian and wife Nerida’s daughter, Samantha Price, was announced as the organisation’s CEO, while Krystal Haycock was engaged as its NSW drought relief coordinator, and Lyndy Morris became the new dairy coordinator in Victoria.
Sam has been with Aussie Helpers since its inception in 2002 and has been working full-time for the last five years as the office manager, based at the Charleville headquarters in south west Queensland.
Brian said Krystal was a fourth generation farmer who would be an asset to the organisation, thanks to her knowledge of the daily struggles faced by farmers.
“Lyndy Morris is a dairy farmer herself, along with her husband, and has extensive knowledge of the industry,” he added.
“I feel these three new appointments will be advantageous to the effectiveness of Aussie Helpers.
“All bring their own set of knowledge, understanding and skills in their relevant areas as Aussie Helpers continues to grow with the request for assistance from struggling farmers all over Australia.”
Sustained by generosity
Now with assets of $9 million and handling between $2.5m and $3m a year in donations, Brian acknowledged that the charity was a business built on drought, but said the generosity it inspired was a wonderful unexpected outcome.
“Even in the good times we’re always busy,” he said. “There’s never a time when there’s nothing to be done."
This is thanks to a deep-rooted understanding of how drought corrodes all facets of life, and a multi-pronged approach to assistance.
Founded on personal visits to the people isolated by distance and disaster, offering sustenance for stock and a shoulder to lean on, Aussie Helpers has recently taken over the home tutor relief scheme known as VISE, and has championed the Virtual Psychologist texting service to the extent that it recently received $1million from the federal government.
Along with a long-established shopfront that is a public outlet for many of the goods donated to Aussie Helpers, a recently-constructed warehouse and an innovative aquaculture project, a brand new “front of house” office revamped ironically from Charleville’s old NSW Bank, is now up and running.
Opened in time for the charity’s 16th birthday in May and operating as the main office base, it also contains a museum showcasing the miles travelled and types of work carried out by Aussie Helpers, and has become a focal point for tourist interest in drought aid.
The refurbishment cost $100,000 but has given Brian and his crew a proper headquarters rather than the house they had operated from for years.
“It’s all trial and error, but it’s all funded,” Brian said. “Tour buses have been making donations – it’s all been absolutely brilliant.”
In another part of town, a range of goods from groups as diverse as Officeworks and Hamper King are temporarily warehoused alongside tonnes of Rumevite and hay, the result of more goodwill from urban friends.
“People’s generosity never ceases to amaze,” said Brian. “It’s thanks to trust built up with companies over the years.”
They include Foodbank, leftover Christmas groceries from Hamper King, Share the Dignity, which sends five pallets at a time, and a Sydney display home group’s house accessories that are not of any further use.
Also sent on are outdated items from Officeworks, all of which is still very usable but would just get dumped by the company otherwise, according to Brian.
Some of this is recycled through the long-established Charleville shopfront run by Nerida, bringing an annual turnover of $100,000, the proceeds of which is turned into hay or food vouchers.
This together with recent drought appeals that have raised up to $400,000, are sustaining the group’s urgent work in NSW right now.