Help those affected by drought and fires

Drought relief campaign driven by ACU staff member

ACU employee, Bernice Mclntyre, has established a donation drive at Strathfield and North Sydney Campuses for the drought-affected farmers in the Dubbo region. Along with St Vincent De Paul, Bernice is collecting much needed items for those gravely affected by the drought. The drought is having adverse consequences on the farmer’s finances, physical and mental health.

Staff were able to donate items such as vouchers (for fuel and groceries), toiletries, pet food (for working animals and pets), and as Christmas approaches, Bernice also collected items such as Christmas cakes, toys and gifts.

Bernice said “The situation in Dubbo is extremely dire, I have heard through my SVP Conference of many suicides occurring because of the length and consequences that this drought has meant to very deserving hardworking family people in this region and we had to help any way we could. Other years we were able to ask the charity of truck drivers to deliver our donations to the region, but this year with no backloading of trucks, there was no way of getting our donations up there. My husband and I felt we had to do something and so this idea came about. My colleagues within ACU Strathfield and ACU North Sydney have been unbelievably generous.”

Now that the donation drive has finished, Bernice and her husband are generously collecting all the items and personally delivering them to Dubbo on Saturday, 23 November. If you have any last-minute donations that you wish to make, and can get them to Strathfield by Friday, please contact Bernice.

Congratulations Bernice on this wonderful initiative and thank you to all at ACU in North Sydney and Strathfield who were able to support our drought-affected farmers.

The grass on the sides of a central NSW highway: a feast for hungry cattle

A picture tells a thousand words – the land in central NSW (July 2019)

‘Buy a book for a Child or Young Adult’ affected by the bushfire crisis

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has partnered with GIVIT in this campaign to attract donations for the purchase of new books for bushfire-affected families and communities. GIVIT is a national non-profit organisation established to directly connect donors and recipients by targeting specific needs. It is one of the major receiver/distributors of funds and donated goods for the current bushfire crisis.

Donations made through GIVIT with the reference 'BOOK' will be used by GIVIT to purchase books for recipients that have identified as being in need because of the bushfire crisis. The CBCA has consulted with the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) and ensured that, wherever possible, the purchase of books will be made through local independent booksellers. To achieve this, GIVIT will utilise the ABA Find a Bookshop search facility.

GIVIT takes no administration fee - 100% of each donation will go to the book/s. GIVIT will work with local hubs: councils, schools, aid organisations, not for profit organisations - and organise the supply of books to those in greatest need.

Books purchased might be donated to:

• individual families
• schools
• evacuation centres