EPIC Grain Brokers director Steve Whillas knows first-hand the value of community banding together and offering support in tough times, after being burnt out in the Wangary bushfire in 2005.
“After the EP bushfires, I was the beneficiary of a lot of support,” he said.
“That support helped me, mentally and physically, to get through a very tough time.”
The support offered to Mr Whillas in the aftermath in the blaze was one of the drivers behind a new fundraising initiative to help SA farmers battling extreme conditions and, in some cases, the lowest rainfall on record.
“EPIC has teamed up with Mentally Fit EP to set up a charitable trust, to raise funds for farmers,” he said.
Mr Whillas said while the trust was only established two weeks ago, there had already been a terrific response from people offering support from as far afield as Kangaroo Island.
While the original aim of the project was to support EP farmers, it has been broadened to the whole of SA.
“I think there’s enough people doing it tough to open it out, particularly young families who have purchased farming properties in the last two or three years,” he said.
“At the moment, the short-term requirements are for agistment and any leftover hay or grain. If there are any Lower EP farmers with part-loads or any leftovers that can be made available now for short-term needs, that would be wonderful.
“In the longer term, the goal is to bale straw this harvest to help growers through the upcoming summer months.”
The first load of Lower EP straw organised through the fundraiser was delivered to Arno Bay on Monday, and another load was dropped at Cowell on Tuesday.
Mr Whillas said this was a different drought to any he had experienced before.
“With livestock worth so much, producers are desperate to keep their breeding stock to give them a head start when the season does break, and so they don’t have to rely on cropping,” he said.
West Coast Youth and Community Support chief executive officer Jo Clark said Mentally Fit EP had been running for the past four years, and is supported by donations from the community and Bendigo Bank.
“The main driver behind it was mental wellness and service availability in country areas,” she said.
“The most important part is that it’s local people supporting local people.
“We work with communities to make sure when we’re delivering services or programs, it’s not at the busy times like harvest or seeding.”
A recent Mentally Fit EP project is the Rotary Mens Wellness Campaign.
“We put a call out to men on the EP interested in being ambassadors for mental fitness,” she said.
“In two days, 35 men aged from 18 to 80 replied, from just about every community on the EP.
“The campaign provides a message of hope about things that men can do to maintain mental fitness.”
The campaign features a photographic exhibition of men from a range of backgrounds, detailing what they do to maintain mental fitness. While travelling with the exhibition, Ms Clark saw first-hand how difficult it is in many communities at the moment, so she said it made sense to team up with EPIC on the fundraiser.
“We know families and small businesses are going to find it difficult in the next 12 months, and we felt we needed to do something to support them,” she said.
- Details: Steve Whillas 0458 852 268.