Listen: Sam and Duncan chat with Grace Brennan, founder of #buyfromthebush
By Duncan RobinsonWednesday 30 Oct 2019Amazing People with Sam and DuncanInspirational StoriesReading Time: 1 minute
For rural Australians struggling through drought conditions, with little to no spare cash at hand, Christmas is going to be tougher than ever this year.
That’s why Grace Brennan has come up with an initiative that gives city dwellers a way to get their presents sorted, and support their rural neighbours at the same time.
Her “Buy From The Bush” campaign, with the social media hashtag #buyfromthebush, has already amassed over 25,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram who are keen to support rural communities.
Grace herself was a city slicker who fell in love with her country boyfriend and moved to Warren, NSW. Aware of the disconnect between the city and the country, she set up the #buyfromthebush campaign, so that local rural businesses can feature their goods on social media to a much wider audience. Through the two social media pages, city folk can buy goods from small businesses in drought affected areas – businesses that are usually owned and operated by wives and children of farmers doing it tough.
“We’ve seen business who send out one package a week, start shipping 30-plus packages a week,” Grace said of one success story. “Almost every single item we’ve featured has sold out.”
Grace chatted to Hope Breakfasts’s Sam and Duncan about the community spirit that has made #buyfromthebush such a success, and also what living in a rural community is like during times of drought.