"We can't promise them the world, but we can give them hope."
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These words from truck driver Tim Rose strike to the heart of why Wisemans Ferry rallied to bring more than $60,000 worth of aid to Tambar Springs.
Wisemans Ferry is a small town 75 kilometres north-west of Sydney with a similiar population to Tambar Springs, but one thing they do have in abundance is water - something sorely needed in the bush.
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Mr Rose said it all started out with the simple idea of buying a pallet of water and sending it to somewhere in need, but "within a few days it turned into five cars and one truck".
In four weeks, they had what they needed, and in six weeks, there were nine trucks loaded with cereal foods, water, dog food, feed and produce.
"We started honestly just with the water ... it blew out of proportion in a week," Mr Rose said.
"We raised a lot of money through donations from people we know, family and friends, ex-bosses, anyone we could think of .... we just used our contacts that way."
Even bushfires on their doorsteps couldn't deter the small army of residents from making the trip to the Liverpool Plains.
The truck drivers, including Mr Rose, slept in their trucks to make sure they could get out of town and took the long way around to avoid fires on the Pacific Highway.
"I loaded the truck with the boss on Friday and I got stuck ... I couldn't get home because the bridge I drive over caught on fire," Mr Rose said.
He slept in his car until the road and bridge was clear at about 10pm - "I was going no matter what".
Transport companies MC Haulage, Camhaul and Maroota Transport donated trucks, funds and livestock feed to the cause.
One young man from Freemans Reach gathered enough money between Monday and Thursday to buy about 20 bales of hay to bring on truck donated by his boss.
"The backing of the truck companies is just the most generous thing we've had," Mr Rose said.
"I was speechless. You didn't see what we had created until it went on the ground because all this stuff was being collected by three companies."
The truck driver said they chose the Tambar Springs area because they had heard how tough the conditions were and when they researched the district, found it was a similar population and size and had a strong Anzac history.
"The biggest thing for us is their Anzac history ... once we read the history on their town that was the biggest winner for us," he said.
Mr Rose had the chance to meet plenty of Liverpool Plains residents, many of whom cried on his shoulder.
He spoke of visiting an elderly man, delivering six months worth of dog food and filling his fridge with fresh produce.
"I've never worked so hard on anything in my life," Mr Rose said.
"I'm still overwhelmed. I keep looking back at the photos.
"It was the best drive home. We were having such a great time talking about it and our families were ringing us in tears, saying, 'Wonderful work'."
Mr Rose said they couldn't have done it without the backing of the communities in and around Wisemans Ferry.
"Our community is the most generous town I've seen. It's amazing what this town can do when they pull together," he said.
"We want to inspire another town to do what we have done."
Mr Rose said they planned to do another run in February and now thought of Tambar Springs as a "sister city".
"We're going to stay with Tambar Springs and help them out," he said.
"We're promising to go back. We can always promise the water.
"We can't promise them the world, but we can give them hope and let them know we're thinking of them."