ONCE again this Christmas season, the Bendigo Weekly is assembling an army.
An Army of Angels to spread goodwill and gifts to our farming neighbours who are suffering through the drought.
Last year the Weekly worked with the Salvation Army to help them deliver Christmas hampers to those most affected by the dry and dust.
Those who would have had little to celebrate, if it wasn’t for the Salvos.
And this year’s situation is even more dire.
Salvation Army community support services manager Major Wendy Oliver said the continuing drought meant even more families were being crippled this year.
What Wendy achieved as the drought relief officer last year will now take seven people to cover.
"We’ve had to increase the number of people who are working into centres such as Maryborough, St Arnaud, Swan Hill, Echuca and Shepparton," she said.
Two more Salvation Army workers are covering the areas closer to Bendigo, while Wendy will care for those from Heathcote to Inglewood.
While drought relief is a year-long project for the Salvos, the efforts will be stepped up at Christmas in order to provide Christmas lunch and gifts for those who would otherwise go without.
"The fact is they’ve lost their crops and they have no income," Wendy said.
"They’ve not only lost the money they spent on buying seed, there’s also been no crops to sell. It’s not just the irrigation farmers, it’s the dry land farmers who are also affected this year."
She said farmers had used up all their resources, had gone into debt and there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
"This year is going to be harder because of all those reasons and while people out there are putting on a brave front, there’s a lot of depression and anxiety.
"However, they’ll say, ‘don’t give it to me, there’s someone worse off than me’."
Last year’s Army of Angels appeal saw Bendigo locals donate hundreds of gifts and Christmas food items to brighten the day of others.
"What we got last year was excellent," Wendy said.
"The sort of things that make up Christmas day, like toys, gifts for the parents and older kids and all the little Christmas extras.
"We can give the families vouchers to buy food, but they won’t buy the extras with that.
"For example, I’ve been stocking up on soft drinks to give them."
In the weeks leading up to last year’s Christmas, Wendy travelled 30,000km to deliver gifts to more than 1800 farming families.
"At Christmas time this year we’re going to have to do the best we can with what we’ve got, we’ll cover all the homes we did last year and more."
Bendigo residents can help by donating something towards another’s Christmas day. The Salvos are looking for gifts for babies, children, teenagers and adults, as well as food such as chocolates, Christmas cake and fruit mince pies.
Gifts for adults may be wrapped, but not those for children, as parents will choose those appropriate for their child. Donations may be left under the Army of Angels Christmas tree in the Bendigo Weekly office, at 30 Bridge Street.
