By Goya Dmytryshchak
A western suburbs trucking business is aiming to raise $10,000 for drought-stricken farmers.
Henry Transport Group (HTG), based in Altona North and Truganina, is donating $10 from every tow job it completes in August to Buy a Bale.
Buy a Bale, run by Rural Aid, is supplying emergency hay to New South Wales and Queensland families struggling to keep cattle, sheep and horses alive through one of the worst droughts in living memory.
HTG operations manager Tyson Beckwith said the company wanted to help working class people who were struggling to keep animals and crops alive.
“Most people I know have been touched by suicide – I had an uncle who committed suicide … the rate of suicide in rural areas is through the roof,” he said.
“Most of the guys here are in their 30s and 40s – we kind of remember an Australia where farming was the backbone of the country and farmers were respected and admired, and it seems like they’re getting a little bit forgotten.”
The family business last month completed more than 900 jobs and aims to reach 10,000 jobs for August.
About 80 per cent of the company’s business is machinery towing for construction and development projects.
Mr Beckwith said a donation of $10,000 to Buy a Bale would be able to provide more than 460,000 litres of water to farmers.
“Ten dollars doesn’t sound like much but we do a lot of turnover so it can become quite significant,” he said.
“Hopefully, it inspires other businesses to do similar.”
Buy a Bale was founded five years ago by Charles Alder and his wife Tracy, after they read about Queensland farmers having to shoot their cattle during a drought.
