Often in this awful drought it's easy to think you have to do something massive to be able to make a difference.

But that's really not the case. The simple act of drawing a picture, or writing a letter, to someone you have never met - a farmer, somewhere, on the front line battling this unrelenting drought can make a significant impact.

When cattle farmer Heidi Mainey went to the mailbox and opened letters from children in the city she had tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

You see life on the land right now is about as tough as it gets. There's no feed in the paddocks, water resources are drying up, and the cost to keep animals alive continues to rise.

There are challenges to endure every day and each family member has to make sacrifices and often 'make do' with what they have.

Read more: The Big Dry

They know good times will come, and they are fiercely optimistic, but when you're confronted with the brutal reality of a severe drought each day it's easy to feel isolated and the whole situation can become a bit too much.

That's why this genuine gift of kindness - two letters and a card, deeply touched Ms Mainey and her family.

A picture of a farmer with a red hat in the middle of a downpour made her smile. The rainbow, happy animals and green grass gave her hope.

The letters from Callum Holder and Grace showed the students understood the conditions farmers were facing.

The letters now take pride of place in the Mainey household and they look at them whenever they need a boost.

"It's beautiful to see that kids have taken the time to write to us, it's so nice to be thought of and to receive this to brighten our spirits. You can tell that they have written it themselves and really thought about what they wanted to say," Ms Maine said.

Ms Maine, her husband Joe and their three children live on a property near Gunnedah.

That area is one of the worst affected regions in the state.

"It's very dry and dusty here, it's dreadful. We're going into our third year of drought. Sometimes you get a little fall of rain - 6 or 10mms, but we need a lot more of it," Ms Maine said.

"We've sold a lot of cattle but we need to keep some of them to be able to keep our business operating when the drought is over.

"At the moment we're on auto-pilot doing what we have to do and to be able to stop and read the letters and look at the picture gives us a boost."

Drought feeding keeps the whole family busy but they will make time to come together on Christmas day and have a meal. That will give them all a short break from the big dry.