Nola Turnbull was moved by the plight of struggling graziers in the Queensland town of Longreach, and she thought there must be something Kempsey could do to help.

She had the idea that stressed farming families could come and stay for free in Kempsey, either with another family or as part of an exchange.

Part of her motivation was to show the rest of Australia what a generous, caring town Kempsey is and highlight the generosity of spirit of its people.

“It was heart breaking to see what the farmers were going through and it got me thinking what we could do in Kempsey to help,” Mrs Turnbull said.

“We can all donate money and things but often that is not the answer. “I contacted the mayor of Longreach, Joe Owen, and told him that I wanted to do something to help and he told me the story of a big bulk purchase of food and things that was distributed in the town, but it was all bought from big supermarket chains in Brisbane, so the town missed out on the economic benefit that might have come from that.”

In 2011 Kempsey Shire Council adopted the Crescent Head Lions Club sister city, Theodore, in Queensland, as an official partner when the Lions Club raised money and collected donated goods to help Theodore recover from devastating floods. Kempsey’s original sister city is Easton, in the US State of Maryland.

Mrs Turnbull said that Theodore might be able to play some role in Kempsey’s efforts to aid Longreach’s farmers, despite being 750km away by road.

“I know there are a lot of problems to be overcome and maybe what I suggested isn’t the best thing we could do, but I just wanted to start the conversation about how Kempsey could help,” she said.

“I thought how nice it would be for them to go to the beach or just enjoy the beauty of the Macleay Valley which is very different from where they live.”

Theodore mayor Owen had his own ideas about what visitors to Kempsey might like to get up to. “When I suggested what people could do in Kempsey, he immediately said: ‘I think everyone from around here at least would want to visit the Slim Dusty Centre’,” Mrs Turnbull said