After a life-changing accident Aunty Rhonda Towney from Peak Hill wanted to devote herself to helping others.

More than 10 years on, she's founded Yindyamarra Aboriginal Services and provides aid and thousands of hampers to those in need around the state each year.

These are among the many reasons why Aunty Rhonda, a Wiradjuri Elder, was named a finalist in the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award.

While she didn't take home the main award following a ceremony for the 2025 NSW Women of the Year Awards on 6 March, held during NSW Women's Week, Aunty Rhonda was one of five state finalists recognised for her incredible dedication to Peak Hill and the broader Parkes Shire community.

The NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award celebrates and recognises role models who promote economic, cultural and social opportunities for Aboriginal people in NSW.

After a bad accident in 2012, Aunty Rhonda was left bedridden and in aged care for three years.

During this time, she decided to turn her life around and devote herself to helping people.

She learned to walk again and started Yindyamarra Aboriginal Services.

Her selfless commitment to her hometown of Peak Hill and other communities like it now sees her deliver more than 3000 hampers to 31 NSW communities each year - from Walgett to Broken Hill and Queanbeyan – distributing them to Elders and community members in need, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

It began as a once-a-week delivery that quickly spread over five days and Aunty Rhonda soon found herself with a team of volunteers in neighbouring towns and towns she helps.

The now 77-year-old communicates with the Australian Army, supermarkets and charities, and helps to fund food and products herself.

On top of that, back home in Peak Hill where she was born and has spent her entire life, Aunty Rhonda runs a drop-in service offering donated food and goods, and referrals to other services.

As Aunty Rhonda watched businesses close its doors and services move away from her hometown over the years, she saw her community was lacking the basics like having no butchers or bakers, or supermarkets.

She's met with mayors in Sydney advocating for change and raising awareness of the struggles so many little towns like hers face.

Aunty Rhonda has said the joy in people's faces and the relationships she's made is what she loves most about the work she does.