By Jesse Graham
A food collection appeal run by the Yarra Glen CFA has had a boost, with $500 donated to purchase groceries for Gippsland farmers doing it tough.
Yarra Glen firefighters have been collecting non-perishable food, toiletries, dry pet food and school accessories for their Need for Feed Appeal since Sunday 12 February.
The appeal aims to donate the items to dairy farmers in Gippsland who have been affected by the closure of National Dairy Products in November, 2016.
On Tuesday 21 February, YV Financial Services’ Steve and Les King met with firefighters John Sutton and Sam Whiteside to donate $500 to the cause.
Les, who is a member of the brigade, said he hoped the business’s donation would inspire others to drop off money as well as household items, so members could purchase groceries to add to the campaign.
“The aim is to get as many physical items as we can, and top it off with the cash money from the point-of-view that we can buy extra bits and pieces to balance out the baskets,” he said.
“You might have five boxes of shapes and we want to do 14 baskets – we can buy another five of those and a further four of those with the cash money.”
Les said that farmers in the region were “really struggling” after the closure, and the fire brigade was inspired to collect donations.
“We just thought it was a great idea, because we did it some years ago, up in Rainbow, when they went through the drought – and they were really appreciative of us coming down,” he said.
For more information about drop off times, call the brigade’s community safety co-ordinator Louise Higgins on 0418 175 463 or visit facebook.com/yarraglencfa
