More proof that you're never too small to make a difference: Six-year-old Owen Colley from Hingham, Massachusetts, is making clay koalas to help animals affected by the Australian bushfires, and has already raised over $240,000 Australian dollars.
Owen's mother Caitlin told CNN her son had been upset when he learnt of Australia's bushfires, and particularly their impact upon the country's wildlife. Owen's father Simon grew up in Sydney, and he himself spent a few months there as a toddler, so he felt "a pull to Australia."
The news of the crisis thus prompted the kindergarten student to draw a picture of Australia's native animals in the rain. "It was really the first time Owen had made a wish for something other than LEGO or something other than himself," Colley said.
Owen wanted to help, so he and his family came up with the idea of making clay koalas. Initially, they were to be gifts for friends and family who donated $50 or more (in either Australian or U.S. dollars) to Australian volunteer group Wildlife Rescue South Coast.
However, the Colleys quickly surpassed their initial fundraising goal of $1000 as news spread of Owen's koalas. The family then launched a GoFundMe with a revised goal of $5000 Australian dollars. Instead, it has raised over $240,000 in just one week — and is still going.
Owen's koalas have proven so popular that not only did he run out of Sculpey clay, but his mother bought out all the stock within a 20-mile radius. "We're seeing all of the donations coming in and we're like, 'Oh my gosh, we don't have the clay,'" she told CNN. "We have every intention to fulfil every koala, it just won't happen by tomorrow."
The Colleys have since been contacted by Sculpey and sent more clay, while friends have joined them in the first of potentially many koala-making parties. More supplies are expected to arrive on Tuesday, as donations continue to pour in from across the U.S.
Owen's help couldn't have come at a better time. Located in south-east NSW, an area which has experienced some of the most intense fires, Wildlife Rescue South Coast has been hard at work rescuing and rehabilitating animals affected by the fires. However, the sheer scale of the crisis forced them to put out an urgent call for help on Jan. 7.
"We are currently facing unprecedented times as the local wildlife group in our enormous fire affected area," Wildlife Rescue South Coast wrote in a Facebook post.
"We are now going to need substantial funds not only to feed our wildlife for the coming months but in addition to rebuild precious aviaries and enclosures that have been destroyed on properties so they have somewhere to live... $50 can build a permanent possum box to give shelter and warmth to a possum doing it tough from the fires."
Australia's unprecedented bushfires have devastated the country, burning approximately 26 million acres, destroying over 2500 homes, and killing 30 people thus far — 21 in the state of New South Wales alone. Over a billion animals are estimated to be dead and their habitats turned to ash, with experts predicting that it will take decades for the environment to recover. The funds raised by Owen's koalas will be much appreciated in the effort.
"I want [people] to know more about Australia and I want them to know more about what animals are in Australia," Owen told CNN.
Topics Animals Social Good
