ALFA's Community Heroes Award, sponsored by Lallemand Animal Nutrition, is back for the fourth year running. This heart-warming award recognises and rewards feedlots across Australia for their outstanding contributions to local communities and the environment.
The overall winner will receive a $5,000 cash donation that can be directed towards a local charity, business, or feedlot initiative, further enriching their communities.
Smithfield Feedlot Makes A Difference to Rural Kids with Town Pool
By Kate Stark
The small town of Proston in Queensland is home to the Smithfield Cattle Company, a state of the art lotfeeding operation with more than a century of experience in the beef industry.
Smithfield proudly employs a large number of Proston locals and is dedicated to building community through events and facilities.
In 1983, Sandra Shearer-Smith, co-founder of Smithfield Feedlot, was completing her Bachelor of Education.
Inspired by William Glasser's book "Schools Without Failure," she implemented classroom meetings with Proston State School's Grade 7 class, where the students identified a swimming pool as a community need.
At that time students had to travel to Wondai by bus, a 40 minute drive for swimming lessons. The children also conducted a survey of adults around town and discovered that many adults could not swim.
Sandra and the students wrote letters to other rural towns for fundraising ideas, and they came up with a tile drive, allowing families to donate for personalised tiles in the new pool. Alongside their fundraising efforts, the Wondai Shire Council received funds and allocated them to build the Proston pool.
Almost 40 years have passed since the Proston Pool was built, and it has taught three generations of rural children how to swim.
Smithfield’s feedlot manager Kailen Hodgson said the Proston Swimming Pool offers an important facility to employees and locals alike.
“Smithfield Feedlot is the largest employer in Proston and having a town with good infrastructure and services to support the families that live in it is vital,” Mr Hodgson said.
“The pool provides a venue to teach the Proston and surrounding region’s children how to swim, with the school utilising the pool running lifesaving lessons during the summer months, ensuring every child can swim.”
Mr Hodgson said, before the Proston Swimming Pool was built, families would have to travel more than 50km to take swimming lessons in a nearby town.
“This travel burden meant many children were never taught the vital life skill of how to swim, with some local children tragically drowning in farm rivers and dams as a consequence.”
Mr Hodgson said the Smithfield Cattle Company would like to see the Community Heroes prize money delivered to the pool to fund updating swimming aids and to ensure local children have access to the appropriate equipment while learning to swim.
“With Proston being such a small rural community, the pool is one of the only family-friendly places to hang out in summer time,” he said.
“Children growing up in the 80s, 90s, 2000s and beyond have learned to swim because of the Proston pool.”
Not only has the pool saved lives, but it became a location for the community to come together for social gatherings. Movie and pizza nights on a Friday night, Saturday afternoon disco swims, Swim Club events, School swimming carnivals have been held at the pool.
Mr Hodgson said the pool also holds a historical significance as it was built because of the remarkable vision and volunteer work from Sandra Shearer-Smith - the matriarch of Smithfield Feedlot.
“Through her work with the school children at Proston in the 1980s, who dreamed of building a pool for their small town, the pool was built.
“It showed the children of the Proston State School that having aspirational dreams for their little community, and the importance of working together as a team with a shared vision, can have very rewarding results.”
About the ALFA Community Heroes Award
Smithfield Feedlot has entered the ALFA Community Heroes Award which recognises and rewards feedlots which are actively nourishing their community and environment. The winner, announced at BeefEx in October, will receive a $5,000 cash donation towards a local charity, business, or feedlot initiative to assist in further development and impact of the initiative.
With thanks to our ALFA Platinum Member sponsor, Lallemand Animal Nutrition for their support of this Award.
