An army of volunteers have rolled up their sleeves and gotten to work on a number of local properties this week.
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Rural Aid’s Mega Farm Rescue started on Monday, with more than 160 people heading out onto 13 local farms to help with fencing, machinery repairs and maintenance.
The “farmy army” comprised of volunteers aged between 28 and 75 is camping at the Showground and came from around the country to help with painting, repairing guttering and doing plumbing and electrical work.
Ken Gordon, who came from New South Wales’ Central coast with his wife Lynne Gordon, said they volunteered to help because they wanted to something with purpose and spend some time and money out in the central west.
READ MORE: Mega Farm Rescue team here to help
Meegan Perigo said she volunteered to become a member of the “farmy army” because it is nice to give back to others and that droughts affect everybody.
“Coming from the country, you know the whole town starts hurting when they [farmers] do.”
The volunteers’ days begin at 6:30am for breakfast before they head off to their assigned farms at 8am. From there, they help out with jobs on the farm until 4pm or 5pm, depending on each farms needs.
Tracy Alder, one of the founders of the charity Rural Aid that’s behind the Farm Rescues, says this is their biggest effort to date.
“Forbes is quite special, it’s the first country town to get a Farm Rescue this size.”
The team is determined to support the Forbes community while in town, with a “how much have you spent today?” challenge box at the Showground. The “farmy army” will be urged to hit the town for dinner after their work on the farm on Wednesday as well.
“It’s not just about the farmers, it’s about whole rural communities,” Mrs Alder said.
Rural Aid CEO, Charles Alder said they would like to thank several businesses and groups for donating items and money towards the Mega Farm Rescue.
These included Fitzy and Wippa from Nova with Bendigo Bank who donated $110,000, Kennards for use of their tools and equipment along with a $50,000 donation.
Mr Alder said they would like to thank Woolworths, Caltex and Bernardi’s for their donations of groceries, fuel and money as well as the Good Guys for donating a lot of white goods. They would also like to thank local businesses for supplying bedding, hard goods, tyres, carpet and food.
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