A charity that has helped drought-stricken and flood-battered farming families stay afloat for almost two decades in south-west Queensland is closing its doors, reports The Catholic Leader.

Sister Christine Henry, a registered nurse and Sister of Charity, commenced her mission in 2007 when farmers were hit with the worst drought. This was then followed by devastating floods.

*Sr Christine Henry RSC has been a familiar face and a supportive presence across rural south-west Queensland. PHOTO: Supplied/Catholic Leader.*

She began fundraising to provide food hampers, petrol vouchers and support with household bills to farming families.

Those efforts transformed into Downs & West Community Support, a volunteer-led charity which has aided farming families and communities.

After 19 years and 1.4 million kilometres on the road, Sr Christine is sure of one thing – rural communities are built of extraordinary strength, resilience and compassion.

Known locally as Auntie Chris, she became a familiar presence and often turned up unannounced.

“Sometimes I wouldn’t let people know I’m coming to visit until I was 30 minutes away, because I knew they’d bust their boiler to bake or run into town to buy something,” she said.

“I brought what we needed for morning tea because they may not have had anything.”

Aside from food hampers, vouchers and bill support, DWCS volunteers kept their ears to the ground.

“There’s a pride in the bush. People don’t want to let on how hard up they are,” she said.

“We were always on the lookout for those who’d withdrawn, the ones keeping to themselves.”

That help included backyard tidy-ups, mini renovations, new gates, tyres, appliances, school uniforms and excursion fees.

Volunteers gave more than 22,773 hours collecting donations, packing hampers and running working bees and fundraisers, work that also funded events offering socialising, connection and free access to health professionals.

Sr Christine offered pastoral support, spending hours and days with families talking through their stress and anxiety.

If she couldn’t visit in person, she’d phone or FaceTime, write letters or send supplies and gifts.

“While accompanying individuals and families as they articulated their fear, pain, worries and hope, we aimed to respond in the present moment and assisted them to find strength and to draw upon their own resources,” she said.

Two toy poodles, first Lady Kenya and later Prince Henry, travelled with her as unlikely icebreakers.

“A farmer will sit on an old log and I’d sit down beside them, and then Harry would jump on the farmer’s lap and slowly, slowly, the farmer would open up,” she said.

One story that has stayed with Sr Christine was of a young couple caught in the 2011 floods, whose daughter was born in the midst of rising waters.

They named her Evelyn Storm.

DWCS donors furnished a nursery once the floodwaters receded, and the family later received help rebuilding fencing and water tanks.

“Today, that gorgeous little girl runs around the farm, helping her mum and dad,” Sr Christine said.

The charity also built a reputation for its community events, among them the Dragonfly Retreat in the Bunya Mountains, held 10 times, and 188 Wellness Days that reached nearly 7,000 women. Men’s Mental Health Days and Bush Christmas gatherings offered further points of connection in communities where isolation was a constant concern.

“While the decision to wind down this important work has not been easy, I am forever grateful for every connection made, every conversation shared, and every life touched along the way,” she said.

DWCS advisory committee chair and treasurer Chris Garnier said the organisation’s legacy would live on through the lives it has touched.

“Nineteen years of human kindness cannot be erased from the soil of Queensland,” he said, thanking donors, volunteers, farming families, and “Sr Christine for her 19 years of selfless service”.

This article was published in The Catholic Leader, the publication of the Archdiocese of Brisbane.