The Sisters of the North have raised over $25,000 in 24 hours for flood affected landholders in North West Queensland.
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The charity organisation founded by north west women for challenging adversity in the bush, started the GoFund me page on Saturday February 9 receiving generous donations already.
As of Sunday morning, over $25,000 had been raised and the link was shared over 900 times on social media.
Sisters of the North intends for these funds to be distributed directly to affected families via their local businesses in the form of vouchers.
Peter Dowling, of Dowling Livestock & Property Cloncurry, is one of the organisers of ‘Sisters of the North’ and has many of his close friends and clients directly affected by the disaster.
“This flood is a crippling blow after fighting a drought for so long,” Mr Dowling said.
“People are not sure what we’re up against until the water recedes but we know it will be bad.”
“The people of the north will address this with the same spirit and determination that it takes to survive out here.”
It is expected that up to 500,000 head of horses, cattle, sheep and other native animals have been lost. There are first hand reports of 100 percent head loss at properties, which has wiped out generations of genetics.
“The fundraiser will immediately address financial aid at a grass-roots level. However, the real cost to these families is going to be their long-term mental health,” he said.
“Through the fundraising efforts, is also an indication of support for landholders during this unprecedented catastrophe.”
Given the devastation of the flooding, the inaugural Sisters of the North charity Campdraft scheduled for the first weekend in April (6-7) in Cloncurry has now been supercharged.
With the flooding, there was a real possibility that cattle for the event were lost but due to the generosity of other cattle donors, new stock has already been sourced.
The full weekend will continue with a $10,000 Ladies Campdraft, $2500 Men’s Campdraft, a Gala dinner, Charity Auctions and more for the first weekend of the school holidays.
Nominations for the Campdraft open March 11 at 6am, on Campdraft Central.
Disclosure: North West Star journalist Samantha Walton is one of the many committee member's of the Sisters of the North organisation.
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