Judy Murray packing one of her many hampers for her extended 'family' of people in need.

by Amanda Lynch-Foster

She picks up a slightly battered file stuffed with letters and pulls one out.

"This lady really needs a lot of help – she can't see too good. I have to go see her because she's feeling real, real down," she comments, concern etched across her face.

She mulls over her plan of action – what should she include in the hamper? Who else can she enlist to help this woman and the many others she looks out for? Will the rain hold up so she can pick up her donated foodstuffs without a hitch?

This is Judy Murray's overwhelming focus, her consideration, nay, her life.

For most of her 54 years, this thought has occupied her mind: How can I help others?

"I would say it started from the time I was about six years old. There was an old gentleman next door and I used to take tea and some bread for him and pass it across the paling. Then I used to hear about people like Olga Lopes-Seale and Florence Nightingale – I always admired them a lot," she recollects, nestled in the living room of her North Wildey home.

Her house is testament to what she terms her "calling". The upstairs portion of a large two-storey concrete extension to her house has been converted into a storage facility – the verandah is crammed with racks of clothing, boxes of food and supplies, donated shoes sorted according to size, furniture and toys.

"You can't really have a home – everything is packed away here. My house is not mine," she says with a little laugh.

She is not part of any large charity organisation – instead, between her and her friend Helen Williams, they are the organisation, known as the Wildey Community Volunteer Corps. It is she who calls around soliciting food from big businesses and regular individuals, seeks out those who look like they need help and, with Williams' assistance, goes about delivering to those in need every Thursday.

Right now she estimates that she assists about 20 households. Some are large, with six or seven children or grandchildren straining resources, while others consist of just one older or ailing person who has fallen on hard times.

As Murray tells it, sometimes her charges find her but just as often she seeks them out as she goes about her daily routine.

"I look at houses when I'm out on the road and I may say to myself they look, as I would put it, 'a little poor'. So I would approach them; but you got to know how to approach them. You can't just go and pull the door, because they have their pride," she observes.

It's not an easy job and rarely a week goes by that she does not pull her own pocket to supplement what she gets from Hanschell Inniss, the company which is her silent partner and biggest donor. However, Murray figures someone has to do it, if only so she can have peace of mind.

"Some nights I lie down and if I don't have enough to give them, it comes to my mind. They are my extended family and I never feel that I give them sufficient," she says, a small, worried frown creasing her smooth brow.

Furthermore, Murray, who is self-employed, working from home refurbishing and selling furniture, knows what it is to struggle.

"I tell people that I poor too!" she exclaims with a burst of laughter.

She raised six children on her own after her husband went overseas, and this experience gives her empathy for others.

"I raised my kids on my own. I had six and it was hard. I know how it does be, so I won't stop."

Most of her children are adults now, working and studying overseas, and this inspires her to do unto others what she would have them do unto her own offspring.

"My daughter is overseas and I pray that if she was ever in need, someone would help her. When you have children, you have to study other people's children," she says fervently.

Despite all the giving she does, there is even more that she hopes to do. She would love to be able to get a facility where she can cook meals on a large scale for her 'family' so they can come and get lunch on Sundays. As it is right now, she just cooks a few meals in her kitchen whenever someone happens to pass by in need of a meal, but it is her dream to be able to do more.

She would like to be able give more in the hampers, particularly fresh vegetables and meat, so she can offer a better-balanced diet to the households she serves.

Her work is basically a full-time job – one that does not allow her any vacations or sick days. "My son asked me to come overseas and visit him and I ask him 'who going take care of my people?'" she queried, eyes wide.

Still, she does not feel like she is missing out, for what she does fulfills her.

"This is something you got to born with. When you give, you does get . . . you get plenty!"