Natasha Shearer is a busy woman. The Tweed resident, who has family roots in Lismore and studied at SCU before moving north, runs her own wedding styling business, is a mother to four kids, works up to 40 hours a week as a volunteer and manages to squeeze in a game of rugby now and then.

Earlier this week, Natasha made time in her hectic schedule to accept an award for her volunteer work in the Emergency Services category for the 2023 Heart of Women Awards.

The Heart of Women Awards is an annual celebration that aims to acknowledge the women making a difference in our community while raising money to feed and support the homeless through the host charity Agape Outreach Inc.

“There were over 250 nominated, I thought there was no way I’m going to win”, this humble heroine confessed when she spoke to the Lismore App.

The Emergency Services category, which acknowledged Natasha’s Rebuilding NR 2022 flood assistance work, is just one of 14 categories that cover a broad range of community and business-based concepts activated by women in the Northern Rivers region.

“I run the Rebuilding NR 2022 Facebook page, I’ve been doing flood stuff ever since the floods started. I started up that page in April last year when my old footy coach reached out to me with someone wanting to donate a car….we’ve connected 21,000 people to date,” explained Natasha.

Natasha went on to explain that her aim was just to connect people who wanted to help with people who needed help, everything from cars to building materials.

“We act as a conduit. There’s a form on Facebook of what they need and then we just put it out there to connect with people. …We had one gentleman in Sydney – I couldn’t even tell you how much he spent – hiring a truck for six months so we could deliver second-hand kitchens, all sorts of stuff…” Natasha said.

Natasha herself, and many of her family members, were directly impacted by flood devastation however her commitment to helping others has remained strong in the year since the event and looks set to continue.

“As long people need help, we’ll keep going. Me, personally, I put in 25-40 hours a week. If you count everyone involved, it would be over 100 hours a week combined,” Natasha said.

“95% of people who help are flood-affected themselves, it helps with their mental health, that’s why they keep coming back,” Natasha added.

Rebuilding NR 2022 covers anywhere from Tweed to Grafton, much of Natasha’s work has been in Woodburn where she has assisted women who were clients of her wedding and event business.

Her network of connections has grown to include alliances with other post-flood champions such as Turbans for Australia and Convoy of Hope.

“I did tents the other day, Convoy of Hope donated $30,0000 worth of tents, Oztents donated it to them,” she said.

Natasha told the Lismore App she has been ‘blown away’ by people’s generosity.

“Brian and his wife Vicki in Sydney – they’re behind the scenes – they’ve spent $25,000 on washing machines and things like that. They’ve got the biggest hearts.”

Natasha Shearer’s heart is also one of the biggest.

To find out more about the Heart of Women Awards and other projects connected to this big-hearted woman of the Northern Rivers, visit these links.

www.rebuildingnr2022.com

https://www.heartofwomenawards.com/about-the-awards