THE Covid-19 pandemic may have caused many services to cease, but it hasn't stopped one charity from continuing to support drought and bushfire-affected communities.
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Since August last year, GIVIT has been connecting with communties across the state to help supply them with goods and funds to aid in the recovery process.
Recently, more than $48,000 worth of goods, services and funds have been donated to communities across the region, including the Nundle Public School, Uralla Neighbourhood Centre and Armidale Family Support Service.
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GIVIT drought co-ordinator Melissa Bowman said before the state went into lockdown because of the coronavirus, she had spent many weeks travelling across NSW to help deliver for people in need.
"It was really nice to get around to these communities, show your face and offer some support," Mrs Bowman said.
"There has been a great diversity in the goods and services we have supplied.
"We have been speaking with charities, who are on the ground in the community, about how we can best support them and the results have been very pleasing.
"From school uniforms, to grocery vouchers and hardware, we have really been able to help these communities, which is great."
Since the program's inception, GIVIT has aligned with a variety of different community groups, which in turn, have directed their donations to be used in the most efficient way.
"We now have 260 charities on board and I can't say anyone knocks you back when you tell them what our aim is," Mrs Bowman said,
"When myself and my colleague Scott Barrett come into the communities, we do our best to let them know what GIVIT is about and let them direct us."
The Barraba local said the organisation was eager to continue its work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We certainly can't get back out on the road, but we are working hard to keep communicating with charities about what they need," she said,
"Living in Barraba, I am able to still get around this part of the region, but we are eager to connect with as many communities as possible.
"At the moment, we are still receiving calls from various charities about people who need help, so from that perspective, it is very much still business as usual for us."
Mrs Bowman said GIVIT would also be paying special attention to community groups in need of equipment to help children learn from home during the pandemic.
"Some of these areas we are looking after have been severely affected by drought, bushfires and now coronavirus," she said.
"It really has been a bit of a triple whammy for some of them, so we are working hard to find the balance between helping out across those three issues.
"The ways we have been doing that are through things like vouchers to local shops for groceries, school packs to help kids learn from home and a variety of other things."
To donate to GIVIT visit: www.givit.org.au
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
