It might be a new pair of school shoes for one family or a set of tyres to travel on dirt roads for another.
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As drought continue to bite into NSW, one frontline charity worker says the needs arising from the conditions are as individual as the towns being affected.
Scott Barrett, the drought relief manager for Givit, is currently visiting the region to ask what assistance members of the community need.
Givit is a not-for-profit organisation which links communities with the charity groups and donors that can offer assistance. The group is working with the NSW government to provide drought assistance.
Mr Barrett was scheduled to visit Cootamundra, Junee, Coolamon and Narrandera yesterday, and Young and Temora on Friday.
"Givit has been contracted by the NSW government to help co-ordinate drought donations across NSW, so I'm travelling around and meeting with the different charities and community groups to find out what needs the people in the communities have and we try and source those needs," he said.
"One of the reasons we do the program the way we do is that I don't dictate to people what I'm going to take there.
"I'll go into the communities and see what they want, then we'll go to the community groups and see what they need and then we'll look to see if we can source those needs.
"A big part of what we try to do if there is something needed is to source it in the local community, so that the local economy also benefits from what we are doing.
"If there's a pair of schools that I can buy in town, I'll buy them in town, rather than bring them from out of town. Because we are doing the things people actually need, it could be a pair of school shoes, or it could be a set of tyres for a family that travel on dirt all the time.
"We've found pumps to help people because they can't get water up. There's no average request."
Mr Barrett has urged other charities and community groups assisting drought-affected families and individuals in the Riverina to register with Givit in order to request vital items for their clients at givit.org.au/charity-registration.
Peter Burgess, the president of the Wagga Central Council of St Vincent de Paul, said the charity was currently seeing the most need in the western parts of the Riverina, areas like Narrandera and Leeton.
"What we are seeing is people needing help with day to day stuff: putting food on the table, school fees, clothes," he said.
Mr Burgess said rural people were not always comfortable about asking for assistance.
"Givit believes in giving people a hand up, not a hand out," he said.
