YANCHEP and Butler residents have contributed almost $3000 to a campaign supporting drought-affected farmers in the eastern states.
Customers at Woolworths Butler donated $675 while those shopping at Woolworths Yanchep contributed $2318 on August 11.
New Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday the drought would be his first priority.
Woolworths said all profits from sales in the fresh department at Woolworths Butler and Woolworths Yanchep and supermarkets nationwide would be donated to Rural Aid’s Buy a Bale appeal in support of farmers impacted by the drought.
It follows Woolworths’ initial $1.5 million donation plus further Woolworths Butler and Woolworths Yanchep fundraising, which is helping Rural Aid deliver more hay, essential items and counselling support services to farmers in need.
Before the fundraiser Rural Aid chief executive officer Charles Alder said the Australian farming community was a resilient one, but there was an urgent need for ongoing support for farmers who continued to do it tough during the drought.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response of the Woolworths store teams and customers over the past week,’’ he said.
“Since the supermarket came on board as a partner with their initial $1.5 million donation and opened up fundraising channels in their stores, we’ve been able to provide more certainty to hundreds of farmers who have reached out to us in urgent need of feed for their livestock.
“Additionally we’ve been able to increase vital counselling services available for farming families in regional communities.”
Woolworths Butler and Woolworths Yanchep group manager Daniel Gerritsen said it had been amazing to see customers and staff rally behind Aussie farmers affected by the drought.
