Jessmyn's Mother's Day project has taken on a life of its own

As Mother's Day approached she thought it was the perfect time to give something back to some deserving mums in the community.

As the idea grew, Jessmyn wondered if she could get any local businesses on board to donate items she could collect into gift hampers to give away.

What started as a small one-woman project, has ballooned into something much larger, with now more than $6000 worth of goods donated - some from businesses that have closed their doors. Jessmyn's Mother's Day project has taken on a life of its own.

"I messaged pretty much everyone I know that has a business - which is a lot of business [laughs]. And there was a really great response to that. I was like, 'Oh, I wonder if I could like, make it a little bit bigger'. I didn't want to make businesses feel that I wasn't including them," Mrs Pileggi said.

"Yeah, so then I just approached quite a few business owners that I don't even know personally and then everyone just jumped on board. There are a few that turned it down, but that's okay, some aren't in a position to donate.

"There are so many businesses that are closed that donated, like it's just crazy. I think that just shows their character when it's times like these and they've had to close their doors and they still will empty their pockets and give.

"It shows the kind of community that we've got in Mudgee in my opinion."

Jessmyn has split the donated goods into 12 individual gift packs that she will personally deliver to the selected mothers, the identity of which will remain a secret unless the recipient chooses to share they've won.

"It's not a popularity contest, let's just see what happens. There are a lot of strong, resilient women in this community that just do an exceptional job and whatever they do they're amazing mothers," Mrs Pileggi said.

Jessmyn said she's thankful for all the businesses that donated, the giveaway wouldn't have been possible without them. She said she hopes to do something similar in the future and the joy it brings her makes the work worth it.

"Mums give so much of themselves to others and not to themselves. So much of themselves to, you know, their family and their community, then they don't want to take any help or anything like that," Mrs Pileggi said.

"It just fills me up with so much joy being able to get all these donations and everyone on board and then to be able to give on Sunday to the mums that really deserve a pick-me-up or to be spoiled."

If you'd like to nominate a mother you think is deserving, you can email soulmamascatering@outlook.com or head to their Facebook page and send them a message. Your message should contain who you want to nominate and why along with contact details and the address of the person you nominated.

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