jack berne

'Just go for it.  Spread the word as much as you can, scream it from the rooftops.'

Jack Berne was born to help others. After learning about Australia's drought and its devastating impact on our farmers and rural communities, 11 year old Jack Berne decided to take action and  he doesn't do things in halves. "I brainstormed some ideas with mum and decided to raise some money," he told Spill the Beans founder, Helen Baker when they caught up recently.  Jack jumped online and after doing some research, decided to email the media.  His story went viral after people heard about Jack's campaign to raise money. "My goal was to raise $20,000 and I was blown away when we raised that in less than a day." 

Jack's campaign, 'a Fiver for a Farmer' has now raised more than $1.8 million. The money raised will be split equally between two charities, Drought Angels and Rural Aid, whose volunteers provide much needed support to the farming communities such as delivering hay bales, care packages, food hampers, local store vouchers and in some areas, counselling to those farmers who are struggling with the emotional impacts of the drought.