THE works of GIVIT are not so well-known in NSW but as the drought drags on groups in Coonamble and around the state are beginning to appreciate the support that they can provide.
GIVIT’s NSW Drought Officer Scott Barrett was in Coonamble last Friday 1 February and kicked his day off early by meeting up with some of the Coonamble High School’s Bovine Appreciation Club members at the local Landmark branch at 8am.
The drought has seen many of the inputs for the BAC’s prize-winning beef cattle breeding, feeding and showing program skyrocket so, after hearing about GIVIT, the CHS Parents & Citizens Association (P&C) registered and put forward the case for the BAC.
To the delight of the students and their teacher Adam Macrae Mr Barrett handed over the GIVIT credit card and notched up a $4000 credit to allow the BAC to purchase much-needed products.
“We’ll use it to buy feedlot pre-mix, soy meal and rolled corn,” Mr Macrae said.
“These concentrates form the low volume, high-value parts of our rations.”
“We still have to buy barley but this is a really significant contribution and it takes the pressure off delivering the program to the kids.”
“We’re very grateful to GIVIT,” Mr Macrae said. “It was quite unexpected and thanks to the P&C for playing their role in this.”
An online platform designed for matching donors of items to charities seeking specific items for people in need, GIVIT came to the fore in Queensland during 2011 when charities were overwhelmed by the enormous number of people needing essential items to rebuild their lives
GIVIT became the Queensland state government’s official website for matching donors and recipients so charities weren’t swamped with excess goods and have since become leaders in disaster recovery.
At the time, the GIVIT website received 1.8 million hits in 10 days and more than 33,500 goods were matched in three weeks.
In 2018, as the grip of the drought tightened throughout Queensland and NSW, GIVIT was endorsed by the NSW government and began the huge task of channeling the massive amount of goodwill from private and corporate donors into the communities most in need.
A look at their website this week reveals that GIVIT is simultaneously calling for items for both the NSW Drought and the Queensland Flood.
The organisation has taken a practical approach to drought assistance and listened closely to what charities and communities have told them.
“The key is understanding it’s the businesses doing it hard as well as the farmers,” Scott Barrett said. “If I start bringing stuff up here, even from Dubbo, it has a huge impact on the businesses.”
“I’d rather have vouchers so that the businesses who employ people, pay rates, sponsor schools and do all that critical work in a community can keep doing it,” he said.
Mr Barrett estimates that during this visit GIVIT injected almost $15,000 into Coonamble businesses.
He is hoping that other charities and community groups will register with GIVIT to bring help closer to home.
“We need people to know that GIVIT is going to be around for a while,” he said. “If there are other groups and charities dealing with people dealing with drought, by all means register with us.”
MORE ON WHAT GIVIT HAS BEEN UP TO IN COONAMBLE IN NEXT WEEK’S EDITION OF THE COONAMBLE TIMES.
