AUSTRALIAN Muslim community’s Human Appeal International has directed assistance to drought affected farmers at Cobar and Warren.
For many years the humanitarian organisation has raised money to distribute aid to Middle East countries, but began a “Farmers Drought Appeal” in response to the severe hardships faced by many in NSW as a mark of recognition of local plights.
The organisation, which spends many thousands of dollars purchasing sheep meat for distribution in aid to the Middle East, especially leading up to Ramadan, raised $90,000 from donations which purchased enough big square hay bales to distribute to affected farmers.
Human Appeal contacted it’s Qurban project partner for 27 years, Fletcher International Exports, Dubbo, to assist in the distribution as the company supplies much of the sheep meat exported.
The delivery at Cobar and Warren/Quambone districts recently was accompanied by nine members of the Human Appeal Organisation.
The group included Human Appeal chairman, Riyad Qasim and City of Canterbury Bankstown councillor Bilal El-Hayek, with other representatives of HAA.
The generosity did not go unnoticed by the communities.
Cobar farmer Rusty Mitchell, thanked the donors for standing with farmers not only financially, but also for emotional support during the prolonged drought and rural hardship.
Mr Qasim said he appreciated the Muslim community’s contribution which has helped not just farmers, but also their own families and the whole Australian community.