A local Wheatbelt charity bringing support to regional cancer patients has been supported by the CBH Groups' Harvest Mass Management Scheme (HMMS).
As part of the scheme, that sees grain from overloaded trucks sold with funds provided to charities, Comfort Quilts for Cancer is one of 13 cheque recipients.
At an award gala last Friday night, charity founder Bronwyn Dunn accepted the cheque of $5,000 that will be used to purchase materials to make 55 quilts for regional cancer patients.
Ms Dunn said the funds mean pressure is off fundraising for the time being.
"The money will give us a garuntee that 55 quilts will be going out to people who need them," she said.
To date, the charity has created and distributed 892 quilts which have been created by volunteers around the country.
Ms Dunn said the nomination was unexpected, with charities nominated by growers and CBH employees.
"When we found out the amount I couldn't believe it," she said.
"Any funding, even as small as $100 makes a big impact on the lives of the people we send the quilts to."
Ms Dunn said without the continued support of local businesses and sponsors including Purslowe Tinetti Funerals, Happy Days Coffee Pot and Quin's Gourmet Butchers the group would not be able to service the wider community.
The founder said it was an honour to stand alongside high profile charities that are doing tireless work around the state.
Other local winners included Youth Focus who will use their grant of $50,000 to deliver web counselling service in Moora, Dalwallinu, Merredin, and Northam, and Wheatbelt Mens Health who received $20,000 to deliver the Regional Men's Health Initiative.
CBH chairman Wally Newman said the project, in conjunction with Main Roads WA, seeks to reduce the frequency of overloaded grain trucks at harvest time.
Under the HMMS, during harvest growers can forfeit grain from overloaded trucks which is then sold with the funds provided to Western Australian charities.
He said prior to HMMS being introduced CBH estimated that more than 60,000 overloaded truckloads arrived at CBH receival sites.
"As a consequence, the HMMS was instigated to curtail the overloading of grain trucks and during the past ten years we've seen a strong decline in the rate of overloaded trucks," he said.
"Between the 2008-09 and 2018-19 harvests, the rate of overloaded trucks arriving at a CBH sites has reduced from 1.27 per cent to 0.4 per cent - a 70 per cent reduction in the rate.
"The scheme is unlike any other initiative.
"Never in the history of Western Australian road transport, has there been such an effective and practical deterrent to overloading, so much so that no one intentionally overloads when delivering to CBH."
In addition to the overloading reduction, Mr Newman said that since the scheme started to return proceeds to Western Australian charities in 2012, more than $1.4 million had been donated.
This includes a record $250,000 following the 2018-19 harvest partly due to high grain prices from the sale of the 687 tonnes of grain that was surrendered.
"CBH is committed to safer roads and supporting regional communities, and through HMMS, growers are extending their support for charities that play a key role in their backyard," he said.
