Charity GIVIT has partnered with the Royal Flying Doctor Service to identify people in need of items.

GIVIT NSW drought relief manager Scott Barrett said there had been a diverse list of requests.

“In this lot we’ve got vouchers to newsagents, vouchers to supermarkets, water, we’ve got freezers and microwaves and even a set of tyres. It’s quite diverse because different people need different things,” Mr Barrett said.

“Everyone is feeling this drought, but everyone is feeling it in a different way.”

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RFDS community development coordinator Sarah Little said working out and about in regional communities highlighted the pressure some people were under.

“When we work through GIVIT it’s not about people coming to us, it’s through the conversations with the community or the leaders in the community that we’re able to identify people who might need a bit of help,” Ms Little said.

“Sometimes those people aren’t the people who will come and say ‘I need a bit of help’.”

All the products to be donated have been purchased locally thanks to cash donations made to GIVIT.

“The tyres will go to a guy who has moved to town. He was working on his farm and now his car is out of rego and he can’t get work. Once he’s got these tyres he can register his vehicle again and go back out and get work as a fencer or a shearer,” Mr Barrett said. 

“It makes a big difference emotionally to these people. If it helps them pick their feet up for a day so they don’t trip over something tonight, that makes it all worthwhile.”

Mr Barrett said there were still large wedges of people doing it very tough. Regional areas, from the farmers to the shopkeepers, needed to stay in the forefront of people’s minds, he said.