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The Active Farmers Tractor Raffle was drawn and one lucky farmer took home the grand prize as crucial funds were raised for rural mental health.
Over the past few years, Hutcheon & Pearce have been proud sponsors of active Farmers, a notfor-profit charity with a mission to improve the mental and physical health of people living in rural communities through group fitness. As such an important cause that touches the lives of many people in the communities we work with, we have been committed to supporting Active Farmers in this mission
The Grandest of Prizes
An idea that surfaced several years ago came to fruition last year as we decided with Active Farmers to take on one of the
biggest raffles out there and put a John Deere 6140M with a 643R Loader up for grabs. With the total prize valued at over $280,000, this tractor was ready to be won by any lucky person who purchased a ticket for $100.
With a grand prize that any person, farmer or not, would be thrilled to take home, the raffle drew significant participation,
raising crucial funds for active Farmers with over 4000 tickets sold nationwide.
Tackling Mental Health in Rural Areas
For almost a decade Active Farmers, founded by Ginny Stevens, has taken a grassroots approach to health and wellbeing in rural communities in response to the alarming mental health and suicide stats in rural Australia.
Active Farmers provide regular group fitness sessions to 65 small farming communities which improve physical health, reduce stress and foster a sense of community. Active Farmers CEO, Mark Slater says participating in sport is key to “staying active, healthy and most importantly, connected to our community”.
With a goal to service more than 100 small communities for more than 2,000 people in the next year, every ticket sold has contributed to this goal and benefit of many people’s lives. As the countdown neared, Active Farmers board member Joe Briggs, went to extremes to create waves and encourage ticket sales. Following his series of hilarious videos, more
often than not in a pair of budgie smugglers, Joe made the huge commitment to getting a tattoo of a tractor on his leg saying, ‘Win a Tractor’. This bold move sure got the word out and was picked up by national media, boosting ticket sales in the final week.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
After much anticipation and excitement, the raffle draw took place on the 22nd of November and an ecstatic young farmer
from Forbes, Daniel Brown, was announced the winner. After recovering from the shock of winning, Daniel shared with
us that he is from a 4th generation mixed family farm at Greenethorpe and has just purchased a small block of land
with his wife near Forbes. Daniel is the new Rural Financial Counseller for the Forbes and Bland shires, helping farmers
in the area.
“I saw the ad on Facebook 1.5 hours before it closed and saw that the raffle was for a good cause, great organisation helping
farmers so decided to support it,” Daniel said.
Daniel couldn’t believe his luck when he received the call, saying he was shocked and over the moon. “This couldn’t have
come at a better time after the arrival of our 3rd child 1 week prior and setting up our new home. Definitely an answer to our
prayer!” he added. The new John Deere 6140M will substantially help Daniel and his family as they continue to establish their new block
Growing the Network
The proceeds from this raffle will enable Active Farmers to expand their network to over 100 small communities by the
end of the year, ensuring that more people can benefit from their regular group fitness programs. These programs are designed to build resilience and improve the overall health of rural Australians, addressing the critical issues of poor mental health and social isolation.
We are honoured to have played a part in this and look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on rural
communities across the country. Hutcheon & Pearce were thrilled to be a part of this initiative, and we were very happy to see the winner of the tractor be someone who will put it to good use. Our support of Active Farmer’s continues, and we are also currently running our third year of EMPOWERED scholarships.
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