Namoi Group of CWA seeks ways to raise funds for drought

The Gunnedah woman is seeking an empty shop front rent-free for a week so the Namoi Group of the Country Women’s Association can raise funds for our farmers.

She became a familiar face earlier this year when she launched the hugely successful Knitted Knockers Knitathon in April for breast cancer patients.

Mrs Argent is hoping to secure a premises in time for CWA Awareness Week in September, with plans to sell baked goods and sandwiches, and become a drop-off point for donations of toiletries, household basics, fuel vouchers, or gift cards from Woolworths or Coles. She also hopes to set up a knitting table for more knitted knockers to be sewn.

“I’ve seen many droughts,” she said.

“[This drought] is amazingly bad because it’s so close on the heels of the last one. We had the 10-year drought about four years ago and they’ve only had one good season in between, and one season isn’t enough to recover.”

Mrs Argent said she grew up on a farm and saw first-hand the impacts of drought in her younger years.

“As a seven-year-old, I used to drive the truck and my father would be on the back and stand under a kurrajong tree, lopping off the branches to feed the sheep, and all the while, he was spreading out a trail of grain for them,” she said.

Mrs Argent said almost all of the 19 branches in the Namoi Group are involved in drought relief. Gunnedah CWA has been handing out drought packs and Tambar Springs CWA recently holding a morning tea in Mullaley to offer moral support to the farming families on nearby properties. On a national level, the CWA received $1 million in funding from Dick Smith and $500,000 from the National Australia Bank to distribute to farmers.

To donate items for drought relief or to speak to Yvonne Argent, phone 0490 926 917.

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