Lake Bolac is in Victoria’s Western District, located 100 kilometres west of Ballarat. The township and surrounding areas boasts a population of approximately 350 people tiny, but with a huge heart.
In the wake of the bushfires that have ravished East Gippsland and beyond, a few Lake Bolac locals put the idea out that they wanted to assist “over in Gippsland”, a consideration that had great impact on the community as most were still in the middle of harvest that meant they were restricted with time.
The town’s one-man police officer, Senior Constable Sam McCaskill, put a post out on their community Facebook page with the idea that they might be able to get a truckload of hay out of their little community every little bit helps and he certainly didn’t expect that they would muster together 15 truckloads to head east, the first of which arrived in Newmerella last Thursday with more to come.
“I worked out a rough estimate that between the trucks, fuel and fodder the total value of the Lake Bolac and surrounds donation would equate to about $150,000, which is remarkable for such a small place,” Sen Con McCaskill said.
“I utilised the Farm Crime Liaison Officer networks and touched base with Leading Senior Constable Jo Geddes at Orbost to facilitate the delivery of the hay to the fire affected areas.
“Our networks across the state are utilised for information sharing, crime prevention and community support. It is this network and the wonderful generosity of our local farmers, supported by the Victorian Farmers Federation that allows this type of event to occur.”
On their way to the depot in Newmerella, from which the donated hay would be dispatched into the fire-affected community, the convoy stopped off at Apex Park in Lakes Entrance where they were warmly and emotionally greeted by locals who had donated the truck drivers’ coffee and filled their trucks with 35 boxes of donuts from Big Bears Donuts to then be distributed to fire-affected farmers in the region. Each box of donuts bore messages of support and wishes for the farmers including; ‘Thank you for feeding our families’ and ‘We are sending you love and strength in your time of need’ among them.
Having delivered their hay loads, the convoy made its way back to Lakes Entrance for the evening with the plan to spend money in the region in the hope to strengthen the local economy.
IMAGE: Leading Senior Constable Jo Geddes, from Orbost, and Senior Constable Sam McCaskill, from Lake Bolac, sit atop a bale of hay delivered from Lake Bolac to Newmerella. S20-951
