CLONIA Wade likes to dress-up. Halloween, Christmas, you name it - you’ll find her in fancy dress walking the streets to bring cheer.
But this time, Ms Wade dressed up for a different cause – to help drought-affected farmers.
Last week, the 69-year-old North Richmond resident dressed-up as a farmer herself and visited businesses around the Hawkesbury to collect money for the Buy A Bale Campaign, which supports drought-affected families with livestock feed and household essentials.
Ms Wade visited businesses in North Richmond, Richmond and Windsor, collecting $365 all up from generous members of the community.
“I even had lunch bought for me at Richmond and somebody bought a coffee for me in Windsor!” she said.
She wanted to thank the businesses and individuals who generously donated funds to the cause.
“Some were so generous, even though a lot of them had already donated to the campaign previously,” she said.
She got the idea from the young schoolboy ‘Farmer Jack’ - the instigator of the ‘fiver for a farmer’ campaign - who she saw on Channel 7 television show Sunrise, as well as from an article in this newspaper which listed local collection points for the Buy A Bale Campaign.
She dropped her collection money in to Sciberras Fresh Fruit and Vegetables in Freemans Reach - a collection point set up by Ray White Kurrajong through its drought relief collection efforts.
She said the Driza-Bone jacket she wore for the day was very kindly loaned to her by Nicole from Richmond Vet Hospital.
“I dress-up for every occasion, Anzac Day, Easter … but this was the first time I’d done it for money for a good cause,” said Ms Wade.