Newcastle’s Chris Jones crowned NSW’s ‘kindest’ person

Chris Jones has devoted her life to helping those in need, working with the community members and families for more than three decades. Eight years ago, she founded the LIVEfree Project, providing genuine care, support and connection across the region.

Formed on the principle of building authentic relationships with residents, the non-profit organisation offers essential services such as crisis food delivery, free counselling, dental care and student mentoring.

“Unfortunately, in Newcastle, there’s a really high rate of poverty,” she said. “On a national scale, it’s one-in-nine people but, in Newcastle, it’s one-in-four. So, the amount stories of vulnerability and hardship are incredibly high.”

Ms Jones was selected from hundreds of entries globally in Black Pepper’s World Kindness Day Search, aiming to find the country’s biggest-hearted people. “As someone who has always had kindness on their dial, I’m just so thankful that the corporate world is paying attention to kindness,” she said.

“How do you put a dollar figure on that, how do you put a description on kindness? I’m not sure what it is when you look at it in the dictionary, but when you feel it, you know it. That’s the definition of kindness.”

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Story by Olivia Goeldner