A new initiative by Baw Baw Food Relief (BBFR) has helped support local farmers in need.

Titled "Drop Off, Pick Up or Share" the initiative supports farmers who are doing it tough by offering access to food.
BBFR volunteers have run the initiative twice at Lardner Park, aiming to go directly to farmers and let them know support is available.
Community relations co-ordinator Mark Cleeman said BBFR hoped to continue the initiative if they received enough food donations.
"We can only do it if we've got enough food," Mark said. "We're going to feed the people that come into our premises first, and then if we've got enough we can go out to our farmers again. We're fortunate that in the last couple of weeks, we've had enough to do (this initiative)."
The initiative was developed by BBFR committee member Ian Smith.
After identifying there was a need to support local farmers doing it tough, Ian and the BBFR team devised a way to provide support in a discrete and respectful way.
"We needed to figure out how we could get to them without them feeling as if they're asking for help," Mark said.
"Ian came up with the idea of getting out to Lardner Park for the calf sales."
When a farmer walked past the BBFR team at Lardner Park, Ian would stop them, asking them for a favour.
"He said, we'd like you to take this food hamper, and give it to a farmer who you believe needs it," Mark said. "If that's you, keep it, if not, could you pass it on to someone you think needs it. All of them said 'yeah, I can do that'."
"It was really quite heart warming to see those farmers who wouldn't normally ask for help, say 'this is great'."
Mark encouraged people to continue donating to BBFR to ensure "Drop Off, Pick Up or Share" could continue.
"The more food we get in particularly non-perishables, will help not only the regular people who come in – and that's growing by the week – but also the farmers," he said.