Vinnies volunteers in Stanthorpe are desperately calling for donations to help them provide water and essential living supplies to locals struggling with the effects of ongoing drought and recent bushfires. Volunteer member Carmel Mahoney urged the public to get behind the Always There – Vinnies Queensland Disaster Appeal to help the Granite Belt community which continues to battle the devastating impacts of drought.
“In the past week alone, we have helped dozens of families and given out five thousand in assistance in food, fuel and clothing vouchers,” she said. “We have been flat out with requests for our help, the drought here has been so severe for so long. The fires have done damage, but it’s really the drought that is our biggest problem” she said.
Cash donations are really what the community needs the most and what helps out the most. This money allows the community to open up more vouchers for things like food and fuel, which also helps local businesses and the local economy. The lack of significant rain in the region has had flow-on effects for Vinnies volunteers, with requests for assistance with drinking water and water for living purposes having grown dramatically. They are distributing vouchers for food, fuel and clothes and also helping with bills but the biggest demand on us at the moment is water. The tank loads of water valued up to $600 have been delivered to more than 20 households with thanks to Rotary.
Mahoney said she had also seen a rise in requests for assistance from those who weren’t in the agriculture sector such as retailers and tourism-based businesses. “We need people to come and visit us, come and visit the wineries and cafes and businesses and give a boost to the local economy here, they are doing it very tough as well as the farmers,”
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