With Australia currently experiencing one of the most severe droughts on record, one country singing star is doing his bit to bring Christmas cheer to farming families and their kids doing it tough.
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Former X-Factor runner up Jason Owen and his fiancé Becy have set up a GoFundMe page - Doin It for Rural Aussie Kids - with the aim of buying toys with the proceeds for farming kids affected by the drought.
The couple will be stopping by Cargo on December 15 to visit farming families in the region.
"As rural families have been really struggling during this horrific drought Bec and I wanted to lend a helping hand to kids and families in rural Australia so they can still have the Christmas they deserve," Mr Owen said.
"I come from a very small country town called Albert about 138km west of Dubbo so I have a real affinity to anyone on the land.They're not able to farm adequately and make ends meet which is hard coming up to Christmas which should be a time of joy and abundance, particularly for kids."
With a Golden Guitar and three Country Music Channel (CMC) Award nominations to his name, Owen has long been a major advocate for drought relief.
Owen recently performed two sold out shows with Daryl Braithwaite and donated all proceeds from merchandise sales to the fundraiser.
In 2017, Owen donated a portion of profits from his album Proud to the Sir Ivan Bushfire Appeal and in 2018 he wrote and recorded These Are The Times, with all funds raised going to drought relief.
The goods will be purchased from stores in rural areas in support of local retail outlets. Additionally, people have also donated toys and gifts to Owen for the initiative.
