The amount raised in GoFundMe campaigns for flood-affected people in our region has equalled that of the November 2019 bushfires.
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Both the March 2021 flooding and the 2019 bushfires saw more than $200,000 raised in our area for both crises.
As the Black Summer bushfires swept through Taree, Rainbow Flat and Bobin in late 2019, GoFundMe saw thousands raised for the local community to rebuild - like the Taree Lions Club that raised more than $100,000 for local recovery efforts, or families who lost their home in the fires.
"It's been really interesting to witness because I think there was maybe the perception post bushfires that, obviously due to the scale and global attention that they got, the fundraising was of a scale that we've never see before, which was absolutely true at GoFundMe," regional manager GoFundMe Australia, Nicola Britton said.
"We were really surprised and quite overwhelmed to see that in response to the flood, the Taree region then raised the same amount again, which is obviously great, and goes to show that communities are still really backing each other in times of tragedy.
"Because we speak to so many people in the communities every day, one of the really stand out things with GoFundMe is that the community knows what they need urgently to recover, more than anybody else, and I think that's why we've seen GoFundMe take off over the past few years, especially in crisis moments."
Nicola says that the first 48 hours after a crisis is when the donations flood in. GoFundMe has a crisis response team that verifies the organisers and beneficiaries of campaigns, and collates individual fundraisers into a central page so people can be directed to that page and make a choice of who they wish to donate to. They do this as quickly as they can, sometimes within the first five hours of a crisis.
The Lions Club of Taree did not create a GoFundMe fundraiser this time.
"GoFundMe's work well if you've got something unique or you can hit the publicity running, like we did with the bushfires, we were the first out there," Lions Club member Phil Grisold said.
I think the big eye opener here is for us to see regions impacted by bushfires, then COVID, now floods, has been really difficult to witness. But we're glad we can provide a platform to hopefully help at some level.
- Nicola Britton, GoFundMe Australia regional manager
"And there seems to be a lot of personal ones this time. We've gone a different route this time in terms of sourcing feed for the farmers.
"GoFundMe is a very worthwhile thing to have. It's great when service clubs like ours can do it because it's all verifiable."
Ms Britton said it is overwhelming to see communities, time and time again, take their recovery into the own hands and taking quick action on the ground.
"I think the big eye opener here is for us to see regions impacted by bushfires, then COVID, now floods, has been really difficult to witness. But we're glad we can provide a platform to hopefully help at some level."
If you wish to donate to a GoFundMe campaign for a flood-affected family or small business in our area, visit https://au.gofundme.com/c/act/eastcoastfloods/.