General News
11 February, 2026
Lions call for hay donations
IT was just seven months ago when a Need for Feed convoy came through the south west with $500,000 worth of hay to support drought-stricken families – now the Simpson Lions Club is calling for farmers to give back to those doing it tough after bushfires in the region.
Simpson Lions Club president Jason Smith is hoping the community will pay it forward and donate to Need for Feed to support farmers recovering after bushfires tore through Victoria these past few weeks.
“It wasn’t that long ago that we were in a drought and Need for Feed were bringing hay here,” he said.
“I normally make 2500 bales of silage and hay, well this year I made 6500, and so I thought straight away to donate back.
“I just rang Graham Cockerell, who is the leader of Need for Feed, and said about donating a B-double of hay and he came here.
“This was about a week before the fires, there had been some little fires in New South Wales and stuff like that, and he took my hay back to the depot and a week later there was bad fires.
“My hay went out and I just thought to myself, with people still carting hay in to get it off paddocks, this was the ideal time to see if some people will donate.”
Mr Smith said the Lions Club called out to the community to support the cause, but so far haven’t received the best response.
“What used to be the Timboon Lions, a couple of members, organised two loads of silage, and then we had a gentleman from over near Garvoc donate a load of silage,” he said.
“What we’re aware of as Lions and because Need for Feed has done this for so long is that it’s not just the immediate need – these bushfire victims are going to need hay and silage until they have an autumn break.
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“That’s what we want to do and the Simpson Lions Club have organised a depot near Simpson where if people can’t afford to donate a full truck or even half a truck, if they have half a dozen bales of hay or silage, they can drop them at the depot and if they can’t get them there they can just contact the club and we’ll organise to have them picked up.”
Anyone who has hay or silage they’re willing to donate can contact Mr Smith on 0438 307 342.
Mr Smith said people can also directly donate to the Need for Feed website at needforfeed.org.
“With Need for Feed, I really like them because they’re the only charity that doesn’t have any paid staff so every dollar donated goes directly into getting as many bales as possible to farmers,” he said.
“It’s going to the area of most need and trying to get to as many of the farmers affected as possible.”
While different charities don’t necessarily work together, Mr Smith said they communicated well with each other to spread the load.
“They do talk to each other, and if one is having a particular run into one area and there’s another area that needs it at the time, they’ll change direction and service that area,” he said.
“It’s wonderful, BlazeAid have gone in to help with fencing and that, they’ve already set up camps, so when the charities work together and do a multi-pronged attack into an area to help the people affected, it’s the best way, I find.
“Even when we were doing the drought, which was just seven months ago, it seems a lot longer ago, we utilised the different charities that were available to make a much better effective way of helping people in the area.”
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