A Wodonga grandmother is overwhelmed after collecting dozens of heartfelt thank you notes in response to her handmade doll dresses and face masks.
Elly Winch, 78, put her sewing skills to good use during the thick of the pandemic, creating 120 doll dresses and more than 100 face masks, scrunchies and reusable bags.
"I would see all the children who couldn't go to school because school was locked down," she said.
"I watched them and wondered what I could do to cheer them up a bit."
Elly got her sewing machine out and started making dresses for dolls which she would leave in a tree at Ewart Brothers Reserve in south Wodonga.
"I left a little note for the children telling them to take the dresses for their dolls," she said.
It wasn't long before people started leaving material and other crafting supplies.
That's when Elly tried her hand at sewing face masks.
"Then some mothers said the children would like masks, just for playing," she said.
"So I started making children's masks with matching doll masks ... they went very quickly."
Elly has been blown away by the thank you notes left behind in the tree.
"Collecting these notes and reading these words just made my day," she said.
Elly has also been leaving sidewalk chalk for children to use on the nearby concrete path.
"I enjoy coming down and looking at all the great drawings, it keeps the kids outside and off technology," she said.