With six children under foot, Grace says her mum worked tirelessly for World Vision in the 1980s so "acts of service were embedded in us".

And it appears the new chair of Border Trust is passing on that philanthropic attitude to her own daughter Adella, 7, who is doing her bit to help bushfire efforts.

Ms Churches, 35, has been a director on the trust board for the past three years but stepped into the role of chair at the end of 2019.

Her vision is to make the work of the Border Trust more accessible to everyday people in the community.

She describes the charitable foundation - which has provided more than $1.6 million in local grants and back-to-school assistance since 2005 - as one of the "anchors" of the community.

"We have established trust with the community in what we do," Ms Churches said.

"The next step is to share our stories and connect to people - our strength is we can adapt to what is needed."

Ms Churches, the operations director for older persons mental health at Albury-Wodonga Health, joined the trust after the birth of her third child.

"Their work really aligned with my value systems," said Ms Churches, who lives in Wodonga with husband Adam and children Adella, 7, Alfie, 5, and Eleanor, 3.

She has called the Border home for 14 years but landed here almost by accident.

After growing up at "idyllic" Dangar Island on the Hawkesbury River, young Grace went off travelling and spent two years in Japan teaching English.

"Eventually I needed to go to uni and I wanted to try a different environment," she said.

"I literally spun the wheel and Albury-Wodonga came up."

Ms Churches studied social work and human services at La Trobe University, Wodonga, receiving a scholarship to study in Sweden for her final year.

"But there has always been something about this community," she admitted.

"It's the connectivity of people - there is a great sense of that here.

"And, even though we live in the country, this is a very progressive community.

"I think Albury-Wodonga's stance on issues of importance and its vibrant arts/culture scene make it a remarkable place to live and raise children."

Adella Churches has proven she has the 'write' attitude when it comes to helping others.

The 7-year-old Wodonga Primary School student has quite literally put all her cards on the table to raise money for bushfire victims during her school holidays.

She has already raised $1740 designing, drawing and inscribing cards to raise money for the Border Trust Bushfire Recovery Fund.

So far she has created 50 individual cards that have been sent off in the post to people willing to donate a minimum of $10 to the cause.

Adella has far exceeded her original $600 fundraising goal and mum Grace said the response to her daugher's project had been truly heart-warming.

"One man was reduced to tears - seeing a little girl do something like this gives us all hope."

The trust's bushfire fund has raised $57,000 to date.