WAGGA Relief Society is helping those affected by the Lismore floods through a generous donation of clothes, shoes and hygiene packs which were delivered on Monday.
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The drive was initiated by Margaret Torning-Foster who had been left heartbroken after seeing a video of a mother and child coming out of the Lismore floods on a boat.
"They were drenched and it made me cry," she said.
"I thought; I need to do something."
The Lismore floods are one of the worst across the state, with most infrastructure under water and residents having been told to flee their homes.
Recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine was another motivating factor.
"I also feel overcome by what is happening in Ukraine and I can't do anything there to help, so I thought, charity starts at home and this was something I could do," she said.
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Mrs Torning-Foster, 74, also knows all too well the struggles of needing help, having had a battle with Leukaemia.
"I had received a lot of help when I was ill, so I think now it's my time to give back," she said.
Mrs Torning-Foster had made a "small" cash donation through her church to assist with flood victims, but after mentioning her desire to do more to the society, she found several kind and generous women who also wanted to pitch in.
"Several of them got together and brought me clothing and hygiene kits, things like soap, that sort of thing," she said.
'I was overwhelmed by the number of donations we accumulated through just a few people."
Mrs Torning-Foster said many of the women donated clothes that still had their tags on.
"I thought that was just the most wonderful thing I'd ever heard," she said.
Mrs Torning-Foster had contact struggled at first to find a charity that was accepting donations in the form of items as opposed to cash, which she had preferred.
"After seeing what had happened with the donations that had been made to the bush fire victims, which I thought they have held back, I didn't want to make a cash donation," she said.
Finally, Mrs Torning-Foster found Albury based charity Southern Community Aid Relief - SCAR.
"I called around to quite a few local charities that didn't call me back so I put out a call on Facebook," she said.
"One person suggested SCAR, so I rang them up and they were very excited."
Mrs Torning-Foster drove the donations to Albury on Saturday and they were then flown to Lismore through Rex Airlines along with other donations accumulated through SCAR.
"I came away feeling very satisfied," she said.
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