Handmade Help...2009 Victrorian Bush Fire Appeal

This organisation came to my attention via the folks at Burda. Handmade Help is an Australian group who've come together to coordinate the efforts of us art/craft indie biz folks to get stuff out to those folks, including the wildlife, who've been affected by the devasting bushfires, in Victoria, Australia. There are lots of ways to get involved, including donations to the Red Cross, Victoria Wildlife, restocking crafters who've lost everything, and much more. You can read all about how to get involved here.

As an American Australian, and as an expat Victorian, this is near and dear to my heart. The areas that have been decimated by the fires are some of the places that I am most familiar with. The King Lake area in particular was one of our favourite bush walking areas, a place we went to get out of the city for a few hours. Fortunately, all of our friends are OK. But it really tears at our hearts to think of the devastation. Some 180 people have died, 2,000 homes have been destroyed, and countless numbers of wildlife have been lost or displaced from their habitat.

What I am doing is donating 50% of my sales from my Etsy shop to Victoria Wildlife through Handmade Help. It’s not much, just a drop in a really huge bucket. We’ve all seen the photos of the koala drinking from the water bottle of the CFS worker. I’ve been privileged to experience not just koalas, but kangaroos, possums, even snakes in this really truly unique environment. The need is great, the recovery will be long.

I urge you to consider doing what little thing you can to help out. There are lots of small things you can do. Check out Handmade Help for some ideas. Many of us have Etsy shops. You can donate an item to an Etsy shop, OzBushFireAppeal that is raising funds for the Australian Red Cross. Or consider shopping there. Handmade Help has similar options.

There is a wonderful children’s story I know about Horton the rain drop. Horton wants to save the dying flowers in a dry land but he is only just one little rain drop. Well as the story goes, no one believes that a few individual rain drops can do much. But Horton has belief and fights to rally together the rest of the rain drops and of course, the bucket fills, spills over, and becomes that life giving force that saves the day. It’s amazing what just a tiny little thing can do when it becomes a collective effort.

Cheers, LeAnn