He asked himself, “what can we do for these people?”.

Now with the help of the region’s Men’s Sheds and the generosity of the public Mr Higgins is helping turn lives of those victims around. And the Young Men’s Shed is right there beside him.

“Young Men’s Shed is proud to be on board such a life-changing program and to be of assistance,” Young Men’s Shed president Trevor Green said.

Mr Higgins’ main focus is that of the victims on Leyte Island whose livelihood was swept away in the 2014 typhoon. 

In attempt to get the them back on their feet Mr Higgins put out a call for computers and sewing machines to be donated to the program as an incentive for victims to generate income.

To date the program has received close to 200 sewing machines - 11 of those from Young - and 645 computers which have been been worked on by Dubbo Men’s Shed’s Colin Brown to bring them back to working order.

The computers will be used in schools.

“We received sewing machines from Parkes, Narromine, Lithgow, Orange, Galong, Dubbo and Young,” Mr Higgins said.

“We got excellent help from All Saints College in Bathurst, from St Mary’s and St John’s College in Dubbo, but they’re come from all over the place - Tafe...Charles Sturt University...

“I’m very happy with some exceptions - we haven’t received a response from some towns yet, but it was a bad time being over Christmas.”

The Men’s Shed continue to accept sewing machines and computers.

Mr Higgins is also encouraging donations to help cover the cost of shipping, with each container - consisting of 3-4 sewing machines or 4-6 computers - costing $95.

“I appreciate the help of everyone in Young, I also appreciate the Young Men’s Shed for being a part of the program,” Mr Higgins said.

“These people can now earn an income for themselves.”

Bank account details: Dubbo Community Men’s Shed Inc. BSB: 06 2676. Account number: 1022 5445. Commonwealth Bank, Dubbo Branch.