A Night For The Farmers fundraiser, organised by Len Kelman and Craig Tate for Need for Feed Disaster Relief, amassed an impressive $40,000 – and that total might climb even more – for the local men and women on the land doing it tough at the moment.

And, while the town’s big-heartedness was praised by Muswellbrook RSL Club CEO Daryl Egan, special guest and music icon John Paul Young received plenty of plaudits as well.

“We had a great response to the function, about 250 people,” he said.

“When you consider there were so many other things on that night, we were more than happy with that number.

“But, JPY was brilliant.

“He not only donated his services, he was very charitable with his time.

“The auction included a signed JPY guitar, an autographed single of his biggest hit, Love Is In The Air, and a lunch date for two with him.

“We raised about $6000 from those items alone.

“Before the night began, organisers had accumulated $11,000 from ticket sales and donations.

“The [Muswellbrook] RSL Club then kicked in another $5000.

“We’re still tallying it all up; however it’s in excess of forty grand.

“The additional money came from the auction and raffle tickets.”

Mr Egan admitted Mr Kelman, who has driven countless kilometres in recent months to help the farmers near and far, was “over the moon” by the outcome.

“Len [and Craig] was very instrumental in getting this off the ground,” he said.

“I don’t know how he gets the time.

“But, he’s done a fantastic job within the community – from transporting hay back to the region, to delivering potable water throughout the Upper Hunter.

“Our thanks go to everyone who made the evening a success, from sponsors to participants.”