Lismore centres have thanked the Mid North Coast community for their generous donations of fresh produce, saying they had not received any fresh fruit and vegetables prior to their donations.
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In April, Wauchope local Helen, who didn't want her last name to be published, first organised a trip to Lismore with her family to donate a box of fresh produce to the flood-affected community.
"We just felt like we had to do something to help, but we didn't know what to do," Helen said. "So, we thought we would just take a load of fresh fruit and vegetables up and just see what the need was."
"When we got there, we were told that it was the only fruit and veg they had actually received, and from there we just realised the need was so great that one trip wouldn't be enough."
After observing the high demand for fresh produce in the community, Helen contacted Sarah Jones, who runs Box Divvy Bonny Hills - Seawind Chase, to help organise more trips to Lismore.
Ms Jones said she was very happy to help and has since started donating fresh produce to Lifeline in Lismore and the Trees Not Bombs café who provides free meals to people affected by the floods.
"Helen started it all," Ms Jones said. "She really got it going, and when she asked if I could help I said yes with no hesitation.
"I also contacted the other Box Divvy hubs, there's probably over a hundred of us now, and it just expanded from there."
Lismore's Five Loaves charity group coordinator Lena Willis, who delivers food to the Lismore centres, said the community is "extremely grateful" for the donations.
"We are so grateful to Helen and Box Divvy for their generous donations, it's been very much appreciated here in Lismore," Ms Willis said.
"It has made a huge difference because in all the lovely donations we have been sent, they are the only ones who have sent fresh fruit and veggies that we can actually give away to the flood victims for free.
"The community loves it so much that the boxes are gone within the day, and the community now gets so excited when they see the fresh fruit come in every week."
Box Divvy founders Anton van den Berg and Jayne Travers-Drapes have also backed the assistance effort and partnered with Slade Transport to send a free pallet of fresh produce to Lismore every week in May, while Helen and Ms Jones continue to send a pallet every fortnight.
Ms Travers-Drapes said it was great to see the Box Divvy hubs come together to support the cause.
"When Bonny Hills let us know what they were doing, we were very happy to jump on board too," she said.
"We asked if other hubs wanted to donate one dollar for the cause, and in the first week we raised around $7, 400, which all contributes to the pallets we send to Lismore."
Ms Travers-Drapes said she knows first-hand how important community donations are during a crisis.
"We were affected during the bushfires and floods earlier so we've been there ourselves. We know the struggle, and we know how important community support is in times like this."
