A tradie from Sydney has told of the emotional stories shared by drought-hit farmers at Dubbo as he urged the wider community to continue offering a helping hand.
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George Pizanis was so moved by the plight of western NSW residents during months with little or no rain that he and friends banded together to form The Water Drive late last year.
The group of tradies behind the practical relief mission made a second visit to Dubbo on Saturday, delivering drinking water and fuel vouchers to households doing it tough.
Working with Aussie Helpers, which provides support to farmers and has a base at Dubbo, the day also featured a barbecue and a chance for farmers to share their stories.
Mr Pizanis was pained by what he heard.
"It was pretty disturbing what's going on there," he said.
"Even though there's been a fair bit of rain, it hasn't gone to areas where it's much-needed, and there's a lot of people out there who still don't have drinking water and still don't have any government assistance, and it's very sad what's going on out there."
Mr Pizanis is concerned drought has fallen off the radar and is being "overlooked" in recent weeks.
"What we did work out, is the drought is no longer cool anymore, things like the bushfires have taken precedence over it, and a lot of other news stories," he said.
"The bushfires are very important to help people, but the drought's been going on for years, but something we can really help people.
"So we're going to do it again, we're going to raise more money and go back out there in another month, and if we can do it every month, for as long as possible, we'll do it, it's so important to help people."
The Sydney tradie said he'd visited Dubbo, Mudgee and Orange regularly for the past 20 years.
"I love the bush, I've always loved the bush," he said.
With fellow tradies from the Kingsford area, he started the Water Drive in December.
They delivered 1000 10-litre containers of drinking water and 40 $100 fuel vouchers and food and clothes to Aussie Helpers prior to Christmas. It made them "aware of how bad things are out there" and they decided to do more.
Setting up a Go Fund Me page and taking to Sydney radio stations to tell of the effort, the group raised about $17,000, Mr Pizanis said.
It funded the delivery of another 24,000 litres of drinking water, and 78 $100 fuel vouchers on Saturday.
One person travelled 700 kilometres to be there on Saturday, Mr Pizanis said.
Another lived 400 kilometres away, while some were more local.
"They drove in anywhere from two hours to an eight-hour drive and a lot of them were loading up their trailers and trucks so they can deliver water to people in need out there..." Mr Pizanis said.
The Water Drive founder reports 100 per cent of funds collected is used for supplies for farmers.
"We spend everything on them, whatever costs we incur, such as fuel, overnight stays, we pay it out of our own pocket," Mr Pizanis said.
The friend of the bush also urged people to rethink overseas holidays and trips to places like Surfers Paradise and Melbourne, and instead "to go into rural areas and spend your money there".
"We were there for two days and visited six different towns on the way back and went and spent money in all six towns, and had lunch and dinner and everything," Mr Pizanis said.
"And we try and help as much as possible because if everybody did that, then there'd be a lot more money in the towns."
There were also plans to buy supplies for stock and dog food in the future, to be bought locally.