They couldn't quite believe it. It was a huge pile.

There were toys - some hand knitted, hand cream, toothpaste and pampering packs - to name a few.

Tarro Uniting Church's drought bus trip was already becoming larger than the fellowship group had expected and they hadn't even embarked on their journey to drought-ravaged Merriwa.

"I only charged $30 to go and that included lunch, but I asked people to bring something that farmers wouldn't normally buy for themselves, anything they would go without," coach trip organiser Pauline Greaves said.

"I was thinking that people would come with a couple of things. People came with two or three green shopping bags full of things. They might not have purchased them all themselves, their friends or neighbours may have given them something to bring, so what we had in the end was a lot more than we expected. It was very generous of them."

Ironically, it was raining when the group of 57 left on September 11 but it stopped once they left Denman.

"Merriwa missed out once again on the rain, it's very dry out there," Ms Greaves said.

Merriwa Country Women's Association branch couldn't believe the amount of items the group had collected and gave them lunch in their hall.

In return, the CWA was given a $1500 donation from the church fellowship and $1600 in donations and money that was raised on the day.

"They spend the money on WLT gift cards, which stands for Why Leave Town. The gift cards are usually $100 or $200 and are redeemable at any business in the town of Merriwa. It's not only helping the farmers, it's also helping the business people in the town," Ms Greaves said.

"We ended up with over 30 boxes of goodies for them. We took toys, books, lots of hand cream, shampoo and conditioner, wipes and many other items.

"We had one box with just toothpaste and toothbrushes. We took some water, not as much as we normally would. Under the coach was full."

Ms Greaves said it didn't take a lot of effort to make a difference.

"It is dry out there, but the people are so appreciative. It was a very worthwhile experience. The bus filled up quickly. My sister said she overhead people in the supermarket talking about the bus trip they had been on. The word is spreading about it," she said.

"It was a 'feel good' day for us, we felt we were letting them know that people in town do care."