Brett and Anne Jessop, of Coolagolite, near Cobargo, have been gifted 24 tonnes of hay courtesy of Victoria Bitter to support their family farm.
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The dairy farmers were chosen to receive the donation, as well as an all-expenses paid trip to watch the NRL grand final, after VB learnt of the family's situation.
While they are struggling with the drought, two years ago their son Noa Jessop tragically passed away in a road accident on the Bermagui-Cobargo Rd when he was 10 years old.
Noa loved football, and the goal posts he would practice on are still standing at his family's property.
“We heard about the Jessops earlier this year when VB donated 30 cases of beer to struggling farmers in the Bega Valley,” Victoria Bitter spokesperson Hugh Jellie said.
“We were particularly moved by their story. It was clear the whole Bega Valley was too.
“The Jessops are big NRL fans and work unbelievably hard.
“So when we started speaking with the NRL about this campaign it was obvious they would be more-than-deserving recipients.”
Mr Jellie said VB secretly spoke with friends of the Jessops to figure out how to make a genuine difference for them and found out feed for their cattle was the simple answer.
“Brett and Anne are passionate and long-term farmers from the region and they fully intend to ride out the current drought,” he said.
“We thought this was the best way to give them a hand.”
So during the lead-up to the NRL grand final between Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters, on September 6 the Canberra Raiders’ second rower Iosia “Sia” Soliola drove down to Coolagolite with the 24-tonne surprise.
READ MORE: Melbourne Storm to honour fan Noa Jessop
When Mr Jessop saw the trucks of hay coming up the driveway the first thing he thought was it was his normal delivery and it was not a good time for it.
But then he was told VB was bringing him the hay and he thought “that’s awesome”.
“I felt extremely fortunate to have it given, knowing there are so many other farmers doing it tough in this challenging time and was totally grateful to the Canberra Raiders and Victoria Bitter for the kind gesture," he said.
“I knew we were getting tickets to the grand final, but I didn’t know I was getting the hay.
“The hay is something I was always going to buy, but a trip to the grand final was probably wasn’t something I was going to do, because of cost cutting in the drought.”
He said the grand final was a great day where he was able to met legends such as Johnathan Thurston, saying it was “good for your mental health to get away”.
Mr Jessop, an avid Raiders supporter, said he was disappointed the Storm could not go back to back as they were Noa's favourite team
READ MORE: Remembering Noa: ‘He loved footy so much’
“I’ve got a soft spot for Storm because of what they’ve done for us,” Mr Jessop said.
“When he [Noa] passed they wore black armbands for him and invited us down for a weekend.”
Hard drought, but not the worst
Mr Jessop milks 250 cows and feeds over 500 cattle on his farm.
The hay delivered by VB was very welcome, because he said it was hard to source hay.
“Things are tough at the moment, but they’re going to get tougher by the look of it,” he said.
“So many people are without hay because there’s a widespread shortage.”
But he said there had been worse droughts before.
“It’s the feed prices that’s the killer, we’ve been way worse off water wise,” he said.
Presented by a legend
Mr Jellie said as Mr Jessop was a Canberra Raiders supporter, VB asked the club which of their players would be available to surprise the family.
“Sia responded immediately and volunteered to make the three-hour drive from Canberra to Cobargo himself,” he said.
“After the video shoot, Sia stuck around to meet some of Brett’s extended family and later invited Brett and the family to accompany him behind-the-scenes at the next Raiders game.
READ MORE: Rugby field opened in memory of Noa Jessop
“Sia has a young family too and proved himself to be a true gentleman of the game.”
Mr Jessop said Soliola was a “lovely bloke, very genuine”.
“I reckon he was a really good fella," he said.