With many parts of the State suffering from drought, local Leone Cutler has seen first hand the devastation that it can leave behind. After many discussions with her friends who live in the drought affected areas of North Western NSW, Leone wanted to do something to try and assist them. It was from there that she and a small dedicated group of like-minded ladies formed the ‘Llandilo (not quite the) CWA Fundraising Group’ in August of this year.
With a little less than a week’s notice, the group managed to hold the first of two community cake stalls. “Our wonderful bakers cooked almost 1,000 cakes, biscuits and slices with just a few days’ notice. It was amazing and a sell-out! We were so overwhelmed by the response that we decided to hold another cake stall combined with a BBQ, just 10 days later. This was even more of a success as we were inundated with delectable and beautifully packaged sweet treats – this time more than 1,500 items were made and delivered by the wonderful people of our community. In total, we raised more than $8,000” explained Leone.
The money was converted to prepaid Visa Cards and Leone personally drove to Gunnedah to present them to a representative of the Red Cross/CWA. The first beneficiary received his within 24 hours and used the funds to seek urgent medical assistance.
“For me personally, the drive to the North West region was very depressing as the magnitude and severity of the drought was in plain sight the whole trip” Leone added.
The Llandilo (not quite the) CWA Fundraising Group are planning a huge Christmas toy and gift drive beginning mid-October to mid-December. From the 15th of October, they will be accepting wrapped Christmas gifts, with signage attached to advise what age and gender the gift is suitable for. The drop off points will again be at the Llandilo IGA, and Australia Post Llandilo. They will also open their drought donation points and will be having another monster cake stall and BBQ.
“We are confident that our wonderfully philanthropic community will again band together and get behind this worthy cause” ended Leone.