As another year draws to a close without an end in sight to this raging drought, people are digging deep this giving season.
Morgans Financial held their second annual Big Dry Friday fundraiser last week, raising more than $1 million for Rural Aid.
Morgans executive chairman Brian Sheahan said the company was proud of the whole Morgans community and all of their supporters and clients who helped reach the $1m target.
"Big Dry Friday is something that came through our staff last year; we raised $775,000 with the aim of creating awareness of and engagement with the plight of many regional and rural Australians struggling with one of our most severe droughts," Mr Sheahan said.
"This year, obviously, the conditions are much more dire, the pain is much greater in regional Australia, so we've relaunched it.
"We've had, again, fantastic support from our staff, our communities, our clients, and it's great to be able to announce that we've raised over $1 million."
Mr Sheahan said the whole Morgans team hoped that rural and regional communities would not be in the same position next year, and that rain would abate the need to raise funds.
The Morgans Foundation and The Goldburg Family Foundation matched all funds raised dollar-for-dollar, capped at $350,000, and the Morgans Institutional Team donated its commission from Friday December 6 to the campaign.
Consultation with Rural Aid and farmers identified that gift cards would be highly valued and appreciated this festive season.
Rural Aid general manager Wayne Thomson said the charity organisation was greatly appreciative of the generosity.
"We have worked closely with our regional counterparts to understand their needs at this time," Mr Thomson said.
"Prepaid Visa cards to facilitate the payment of bills, purchase of fresh food and vegetables and other needs will be very gratefully received by those suffering in the current severe drought and fire conditions
"Many farmers will use the prepaid Visa cards to purchase goods in their own communities, which will help support their local businesses."
'Tis the season to dig deep
Toowoomba's iconic hotel, Fitzy's Toowoomba, held their inaugural fundraising luncheon, Fitzy's Feast for a Farmer, last week, raising over $114,000 for drought-stricken farmers.
Hosted by Weekend Sunrise's Simon Reeve, the sold-out event exceeded fundraising targets by a staggering $64,000 in aid of drought relief charity, Drought Angels.
The event included an intimate panel of farmers led by Mr Reeve, detailing the real truths of life on the land, followed by a live auction which raised over $57,000 alone.
The outpouring of support left Drought Angels founder Natasha Johnston in tears.
"I've never seen so much generosity in one room. It was just incredible," Mrs Johnston said.
"This is literally a life-changing amount of money which will mean so much to so many people on the land."
With an initial fundraising goal of $50,000, Fitzy's was extremely proud to announce the official tally.
Fitzy's Toowoomba managing director Brad Fitzgibbons said the aim of the campaign was to elevate community awareness of the drought crisis, raise money for drought relief and encourage people to dig deep in support of farmers doing it tough.
"Times are tougher than ever for our friends on the land and we need people to take action before it's too late," Mr Fitzgibbons said.
"Toowoomba is a truly generous community. We were blessed to have so many wonderful sponsors on board in support of Drought Angels. We couldn't be happier with the result."
This is the second event Fitzy's has held in support of Drought Angles this year, spurred on by a desire to create real change for struggling farmers.