We caught up with the fellas at MK Trucking and the Frankston Bombers after their outstanding ‘HAY! Let’s look after ‘em’ drought relief fundraiser!
In August owner-operator Tony Fulton, known for his popular Facebook page ‘Tone’s Truckin Stories’, put the idea of a hay run to owners of MK Trucking Mick and Mark Kaandorp, who gave it the nod without second thought.
MK Trucking then joined forces with local footy club, the Frankston Bombers, with a goal of $20,000 to get much-needed hay to three properties west of Bourke doing it tough.
Tony promptly took to Facebook, promoting a GoFundMe page through his friends and colleagues, and Frankston Bombers Football Club President Chris Sharman started reaching out to his network of club affiliates.
Within just a few weeks the fundraiser had been hugely successful and the team had $14,000 and 26 bales of donated hay, and a couple of trucks waiting to be put to work on 31 August.
“We raised 14 grand and did that in three weeks, as well as 26 bales donated from farms on the Mornington Peninsula,” Frankston Bombers President Chris Sharman says.
“That got us to a total of 92 bales which we donated to three properties west of Bourke and then some others on the way home who MK Trucking knew of.”
Chris says despite seeing that region drought-affected in the past, it’s tough out there at the moment with farmers resorting to feeding their livestock cotton seed.
“I was up there in June and the emus were dying, the roos were falling over and the farmers are basically just now feeding the sheep cotton seed,” he explains.
“This hay will last them until the middle of November and if it doesn’t rain by then, it doesn’t mean we can’t go around and see if we can help again.”
Tony was stoked when we spoke to him after the run, showing us photos of his K104 loaded up with hay and explaining how thankful the farmers were.
“The farmers were lovely people and they were just really thankful,” Tony says.
It was just another day driving for Tony in terms of the load because he’s carted hay before, but he says it was an eye opener seeing just how dire the situation is.
“It went without a hitch and everyone along the way was great, but with the last hour or so being a dirt road it became apparent how dry it is out there,” he says.
“Even the goats are dead on the side of the road there, it’s just so dry and there isn’t an edible blade of grass.”
Chris explains it was all made possible thanks to generous donations and the support of local business and the community.
“We were lucky we got so much donated and the hardest part is finding someone to donate their time and truck to get it up there, which was where MK trucking came in,” he says.
“I’d also like to thank South-East Building Services, Patterson Cheney Trucks in Dandenong, and Dr Peter Brown who donated 13 bails.”
Check out the video of the epic hay run below!