STAN JOHNSTON SHINES IN A NEW STARRING ROLE

By Graham Potter | Sunday, January 5, 2014

He wouldn’t want to take any credit for it, but let’s give credit where credit is due.

Stan Johnston of the Sunshine Coast’s Craiglea Stud, is well known for his unwavering support of country racing but he has taken on a new role recently which might eclipse his other achievements.

Happiness in hard times is a precious commodity but Johnston has managed to deliver that in bundles … quite literally … over a far reaching distance to a multitude of thankful recipients through a scheme spawned by an idea he had when driving home from Townsville races.

“I was listening to ABC radio. They were doing a story on small schools,” Johnston said. “They were talking about Prairie School and a little girl came on from Prairie … ten years old … and she told her story about how her parents were struggling with the drought.

“For a ten year old to be worrying about that sort of thing … I thought, maybe we could do a bit to help her and other families like hers, but then I wondered how could I get the idea out there that help might be available?

“Mark Phelps put a story in Country Life to contact us. Robbie Luck contacted School Of The Air. They put it over the School Of The Air asking if any of the kids wanted hay for their ponies, because out there, whether they’re in small towns or on stations, ponies mean everything to those kids.

“We got about two-hundred-and-fifty email replies from kids.”

And the rest, as they, say is history.

Seldom has delivering hay and grain had such an impact as Johnston, who shouldered most of the cost of the venture with his wife and his brother, aided by some donations from suppliers, not only gathered in the produce but also organised a road-trip to personally effect delivery to those in need.

Eight hundred bales of hay (Peter Doyle was the hay buyer and some hay was donated) and two-and-a-half tons of grain (donated by Steve Jones of Gympie) was a sizable load. River Junction Stud sent their truck and their driver to help and soon the team was ready to roll.

The places visited are too many to list here … let’s just say it was a six thousand kilometre round trip (reaching to within two hours of Mt Isa) with the gifts perfectly timed just before Christmas.

“The beauty is we were able to meet nearly every one of those children who wrote to us. The looks on their faces were great. The parents got pretty emotional. Some of the old dears were crying … and when you see the original e-mails you can understand their reaction to what has happened.

“You have got to remember the whole thing came about because of the kids. It’s amazing, you know … five, six seven-year-old kids e-mailing. They know how to use the computer.

“One little girl e-mailed us. About five minutes later the kid’s mother e-mailed us. She was panicking. She said she couldn’t get to the kid quick enough to stop her hitting the send button. She was worried.

“I said, ‘no worries’. It was good that she didn’t stop her.”

But Johnston believes the job to be only half done.

That’s is why he’ll be on the road again come January 11, this time bringing relief to another two regions.

And it is easier this time around.

Johnston’s phone never stopped ringing while I was chatting to him before his first race winner at Rockhampton on Friday.

“It’s all these people offering donations,” Johnston explained with a big smile on his face.

“You see a lot of the people offering donations come from out there and they know what some people are going through.”

Johnston would be the first to point out this endeavour was never a one man show and thanks are certainly due to all those who have played their part, but without Johnston’s driving, infectious enthusiasm and art of persuasion, the struggle some are still enduring might have been just that bit harder to bear.

All credit to him for recognising and acting on an opportunity to help others and to his entire support team … that is everybody who played any part, large or small … who took up Johnston’s challenge and helped carry an idea through to a successful outcome.

They all have made a difference!

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