Between their daughter’s volatile health, and the downturn in their Grenfell farm, Skye and Damien Manson were facing a bleak Christmas.
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Until Junee Bakery owners Tina and Jay step in. In September, the business duo left a small mason jar on the counter, asking the community for donations to help a local family cover their medical costs.
“We didn’t really know what to do with the money, but we knew we wanted it to go to a family that could really use it,” said Tina Johnson.
Over the weekend of the Riverina Schoolboys Rugby Carnival, the bakery donated a dollar from every coffee sold to the cause.
Tina and Jay then matched dollar-for-dollar what was raised over the two days.
After the $3000 total was reached, Ms Johnson contacted Country Hope in the hopes of locating one such family.
With an inoperable benign tumour on the brain, the Mansons’ youngest daughter Florence has spent a lot of her young life in hospital.
She was diagnosed about 12 months ago, around the same time the family purchased their crop and livestock farm 160km northeast of Junee proper.
Travelling to Sydney for scheduled treatment has become an almost weekly occurrence for the two-year-old and her mother, Skye.
Her sudden temperature spikes have become less frequent, but have meant for additional unexpected journeys to the hospital.
Ms Manson describes the family’s home life as having a bag perpetually packed and beside the door, ready to make the inevitable trip to emergency.
“From the time the doctors found the tumour, it all happened so quickly,” said Mrs Manson.
“It’s gotten to the point that we now expect the unexpected.”
Florence underwent chemotherapy for three months this year before she began receiving an oral treatment.
“The tumour has shrunk and her bloods are looking more and more positive,” said Mrs Manson.
“It may never completely go, but the hope is it will get to a size that will not be problematic anymore.”
Coupling with Florence’s health this year, the Manson family have also begun to struggle under the weight of the ongoing drought.
The big dry has forced the family to begin selling off their livestock to cope with the undue financial strain.
“We were looking OK until September. Since then we’ve had a lot of wind and heat, so there’s not a lot of harvesting going on in Grenfell right now,” said Mrs Manson.
“We’re now running at about a third of our capacity. We did get 30mm of rain the other day though. It’s the little victories that keep us going.”
The family took a full month to evaluate whether they might be making the right choice in accepting the money offered to them by Country Hope at the end of September.
It was that decision-making process that really confirmed to Ms Johnson that they had found the right family.
“The fact they took some time to think it over says to me that they’ll use it in the best way possible,” said Ms Johnson
“I’m so glad that it’s going to a family like that, not one that’s got their hands out for charity but one that will give back to the community too.”
Returning the good faith is something the Mansons are already planning.
“It’s overwhelming to think that a country town like Junee would put their hands in their pockets,” said Mrs Manson.
“It just makes us feel so loved that people we don't even know would want to be that generous.
“The money is just such a huge help, we’d love to be able to give back because we’ve received so much.”