TAKE some of the district’s most dedicated volunteers, put them together, give them a challenge and tah dah – a new way of doing drought relief is born.
The Coonamble Drought-Busters Alliance was formed in August 2018 as a way of distributing donations to drought-affected people within Coonamble Shire while at the same time generating income for local businesses struggling due to drought.
A number of the Clubs had already received and distributed donations from generous individuals and clubs in urban and coastal areas.
Foreseeing a big workload for their local volunteers and facing a range of other issues around deciding who should get what, Coonamble Rotary Club decided to bring more brains to the table.
They invited other local charities and service clubs and at the first meeting the group decided to work together and pool any drought donations they received into a combined fund.
“They also discussed the risk to local businesses, who themselves are under strain from the drought,” said Rural Resilience Officer Amanda Glasson.
“So we came up with a win/win scenario based on the very successful Coonamble Cash concept developed by Council’s Economic Development Office and local businesses back in 2004.”
The combined funds will be deposited into a joint bank account and distributed in the form of Drought-Buster Dollars which can only be spent in businesses based in the Coonamble local government area.
“It means that people receiving the Dollars can spend it on what they need most at the time,” Ms Glasson said. “That might be a new battery for their car, or a haircut, or even paying an overdue bill that they’ve been worrying about.”
“And when they spend their Dollars they will know that they are helping to keep our local economy and community ticking over, which is critical to our district’s future,” she said.
The Drought-Busters alliance last week decided that they would call for nominations from drought-affected people needing Drought-Buster dollars.
“You can nominate yourself, or someone else you think is in need of assistance,” said Rotarian Tracey Harvey.
“People might also be referred by professionals in the community.”
“Coonamble Shire Council kindly agreed to do the administration for us for no cost and have opened a bank account on our behalf,” Ms Harvey said.
“But it will be a small number of people from the Alliance who know where the funds go.”
“It will be very confidential,” she said.
“Council is not involved in this side of it,” she said “But they will be responsible for reimbursing businesses where the Drought-Buster Dollars are spent so that can happen quickly.”
The Drought-Busters Alliance involves Coonamble Rotary Club, Lions Club, Quota Club, Red Cross branch, both the Day and Evening branches of CWA, and Coonamble Chamber of Commerce.
Other groups in Quambone and Gulargambone are also likely to be involved.
PICTURED: The Drought-Busters Alliance have taken up the fight to keep the dollars circulating during the drought: Tony Wiatkowski (Lions), Tessa Searle (Red Cross), Helen Nalder (CWA Day Group), Tracey Harvey (Rotary), Keith Glover (Rotary), Anita Murray (Chamber of Commerce), Wayne Phillips (Lions), Keith Cain (Rotary), Amanda Glasson (NSW DPI Rural Resilience Officer), Cr Karen Churchill, Terry Jurgens (Quota) and Lois Cain (CWA Evening Group)
For more information contact: coonambledroughtbusters@gmail.com