The Tomakin artist first donated works to the Queen of Canberra Quest in 1981 and since then, she has lost count of the paintings she has given to charities.

Raised in extreme hardship during the Second World War in Nazi-annexed Austria, Truda said food shortages and high unemployment prevailed until well after the end of the Allied occupation in the mid-50s.

Truda left her homeland in 1960 when she was 21, to see the world and learn English.

Her first stop, with friends in Canberra, was a revelation.

“I wrote to my mother and told her that people bought potatoes by the bagful, and apples and oranges came in boxes,” Truda said.

Her love affair with Australia soon led to another – her first husband, Peter D’Onofrio.

Taking a neighbour to art and craft classes to help her meet people opened the door to Truda’s next affair – with painting.

“After trying a variety of crafts I got bored with it so I told the teacher I was interested in learning to paint,” she said.

“I loved it, and have never had any other hobbies.”

At that first fundraiser in 1981, her five abstract works were bought privately by a curator at the National Gallery, who told Truda to concentrate on modernistic works.

From 1984, Truda donated paintings to the newly formed Camp Quality, founded by Vera Entwhistle, who was a board member of the Randwick Children’s Hospital Research Foundation.

Vera then kicked off Rally For Recovery in 2001 after she was asked by the foundation head if she could raise money solely for research into kids’ cancer, and Truda put her artistic talents to work for the new group.

Truda’s connection with Tomakin began in 1970. The D’Onofrios’ holiday house was behind John and Margaret Ward’s and the five Ward kids were good mates with Truda and Peter’s three over the back fence.

But both families suffered tragedy. Peter died in 1987, and Margaret in 1991.

Truda and John tied the knot the following year, and later moved to Tomakin, in 1998.

Staunch supporters of the research foundation, they secured the old Tomakin Fire Shed and gathered $60,000 in donated goods and services to turn it into the “Rally Shed”, now a well-known and popular site for Rally’s fundraising activities.

Tragedy struck again when John died six years ago, and then Truda’s son, Michael, in 2014.

Painting took a back seat for a while but Truda has now picked up her brushes and reopened her home gallery.

She says volunteering for Rally keeps her close to John.

“Most of these new works are abstract, but I intend to revisit traditional landscapes,” she said.

What Truda doesn’t donate to Rally is given to local community groups for fundraising efforts.

Rally volunteers are preparing for Rally’s next big garage sale and sausage sizzle on January 28, from 9am to 1pm. The shed, in Ainslie Parade, is also open every Wednesday and Saturday morning.

Truda‘s Gallery, at 76 Kingston Place, is open whenever Truda is at home, or phone 0427 716 900.

Rally has now raised a staggering $1.5 million for the research foundation, and Truda is very proud of her fellow volunteers’ wonderful efforts.