Woolworths to donate profits from Saturday fresh food sales to drought-affected farmers
Woolworths will donate all profits from Saturday’s fresh food sales to drought-affected farmers.
All of NSW is in drought according to the Department of Primary Industries.
“All profits from sales of fruit and veg, meat, the chilled section, bakery and deli at Woolworths supermarkets nationwide and online this Saturday will help support farmers doing it tough because of the drought,” Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director Claire Peters said.
All profits from sales in the fresh departments on Saturday August 11 will be donated to Rural Aid’s Buy a Bale appeal to support Australian farmers impacted by drought.
The Buy a Bale appeal started in September 2013, to encourage Australians to donate money for farmers to purchase hay and other essential items. A $20 donation will buy “a small bale of hay and helps transport it to the affected areas,” according to the Buy a Bale website.
The Saturday drive follows Woolworths’ initial $1.5 million donation to the Buy a Bale campaign in July.
“The Australian farming community is a resilient one, but there is an urgent need for ongoing support for farmers who continue to do it tough during this drought,” Rural Aid CEO Charles Alder said.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response of the Woolworths store teams and customers over the past week. We’ve been able to provide more certainty to hundreds of farmers who have reached out to us in urgent need of feed for their livestock.
“Additionally we’ve been able to increase vital counselling services available for farming families in regional communities,” Mr Alder said.
In addition to Saturday’s fundraising drive, Woolworths is collecting in-store donations from customers who have donated over $600,000 to Buy a Bale in less than a week.
