A much needed delivery of hay arrived in Willawarrin over the weekend as demand for animal fodder increases across the eastern coast.
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Over 17 trucks carrying hay bales made their way through Kempsey and into Willawarrin at 6pm, Sunday November 5.
Need for Feed project chairman Graham Cockerell said the welcome to drivers was huge especially in Willawarrin.
"They basically had the main street blocked off," he saud.
"It was really quite emotional for our drivers to see the appreciation."
This isn't the first hay run the national Lions Club project has delivered to Kempsey recently.
The charity took up the call in October when livestock owners who were impacted by fires and dry weather needed fodder for their animals.
The demand for hay has continued with 150 people from the Willawarrin and Kempsey area signing up for donations from Need for Feed.
The rainy conditions made it difficult for the volunteer drivers to park their trucks in the paddock as originally planned and instead unloaded on top of netball courts.
But the weather didn't dampen the mood with the charity sitting down for a feed and drink with recipient farmers.
"We had a really good night there," Mr Cockerall said.
Williwarrin is just one of many jobs that the charity has been attending recently with requests coming from along the east coast of Australia.
"We've got 26 trucks on the road at the moment," Mr Cockerell said.
"We've got three trucks getting unloaded at Tenterfield...and 2 semis and a road train getting unloaded at Taree tomorrow (Tuesday, November 7)."
The high number of fires and dry weather has led to the increased demand for the hay.
"Once people see you're doing stuff and somebody else is getting something, they realise they might be able to get something themselves," Mr Cockerell said.
"When we say we're going to go somewhere,we encourage the requests because we don't want people to miss out."
As much as the charity wants to help out, Mr Cockerell said he doesn't want to be too busy in case other have to wait or miss out.
"The last big drought we had at one stage...6,500 requests right across eastern Australia down to Tasmania," he said.
"To be honest with you, we didn't get through all that.
"I guess it was nearly too big a task."
The charity has since implemented a different strategy during times of high demand with smaller allocations of hay but scheduling in more trips to an area.
"We basically share what we've got to share," Mr Cockerall said.
People wanting to request help or wishing to donate to the cause can do so by visiting the Need for Feed website.
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Emily Walker
Reporter at Macleay Argus and Port Macquarie News.
Reporter at Macleay Argus and Port Macquarie News.
