THERE’S 250 trucks and 350 trailers for the March 31 Burrumbuttock Hay Run, with the convoy expected to stretch the equivalent of the distance between Griffith and Wagga.
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But the long drive of donated hay, trucks and drivers to provide aid to drought-stricken farmers in Queensland desperately needs fuel.
With the next Hay Run so close on the horizon organiser Brendan Farrell said Yoogali Public School’s fundraising sausage sizzle held on Friday would be a great help to providing the drivers with fuel.
The fundraiser was organised by teacher Sonya Salvestro, who said she felt compelled to do something after following the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners Facebook page and hearing of their need for donations.
The school of only 40 students managed together to raise $470 to go towards the fuel costs of the next hay run.
Teachers at Yoogali said they were surprised and delighted with the level of support they received from both students and parents.
“We had so many donations, from parents, Coles donated all of the sausages, bread and drinks, PDF donated ice creams and the kids all paid to wear mufti clothes today so they could dress as a farmer,” said Ms Salvestro.
“With all of the donations we received the day was 100 per cent profit.”
Ms Salvestro said while they wanted to lend a hand to the good cause, it was also an important opportunity to help the students understand what other families in rural areas were going through.
“We really wanted to make them understand what living in such a severe drought would be like, we got the eldest child and had her stand out the front and explained in her whole lifetime there were some farms up north who had never even seen rain,” Ms Salvestro said.
The cause pulled at the heartstrings of nine-year-old Elizza Bartolo, who asked Mr Farrell if he ever got sad when he was delivering hay to drought stricken areas.
Mr Farrell admitted he often went through boxes of tissues after seeing the effects of drought on farmers and their families in central Queensland.
Mr Farrell was impressed and grateful for the support Yoogali showed. “The kids here and in other schools are the future of the country and that’s why they need to understand the drought and picture it in their heads,” said Mr Farrell.
“It’s mind blowing the schools around Australia who are helping out, but it’s also surprising the support we have recieved from the world. I’ve done interviews in Norway and Sweden, it’s amazing the amount of goodwill that has been generated around the world.”
