How Vinnies has helped people through the drought

How Vinnies has helped people through the drought

In the 2018/19 financial year, the need for our support increased by 77% in drought-affected areas. During the year we provided:

• Over $600,000 in no-interest loans to more than 630 people experiencing hardship
• $377,800 worth of Telstra vouchers to help people with the cost of phone bills
• $2.1 million worth of clothing and household items
• $1.9 million worth of food parcels

We also helped government funds reach those who needed it most as a provider of the Federal Government’s Drought Community Support Initiative (DCSI). We distributed $6.7 million in drought relief funds to farmers and farm workers in NSW.

For the O’Connor family, drought assistance from Vinnies helped to cover much-needed household expenses such as groceries and utilities, as well as pay the car registration when there was an unexpected family crisis.

With our help, the family-run Floods Creek Station, 130 kilometres north-west of Broken Hill, remains up and running. “That help towards groceries and bills was fantastic,” Sonja O’Connor told us.

Sonja and Luke O’Connor at Floods Creek Station.