There has been hardly any good news to come out of the fire-ravaged eastern coast of Australia, but one of the most heart warming things I’ve ever seen is how the world has rallied behind the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. In fact, the GoFundMe page set up has actually just become Australia’s most successful GoFundMe ever.
The Koala Hospital originally set a goal of $25,000 so that they could buy automatic drinking stations and spread them around areas affected by fires so that koalas would have somewhere to drink in the burnt landscape.
As I write, they’ve raised over $1.8 million. Obviously the Koala Hospital didn’t anticipate having this much money and support come their way, and the GoFundMe page has been updated to express their gratitude and let people know what their donations are going towards.
“We are also purchasing a water carrying vehicle with fire fighting capabilities to replenish the drinking stations with water as needed.
Donations have now reached an incredible amount and we are extending the project to establish a wild koala breeding program.”
Donations to the fundraiser have come from 90 different countries, including Australia (obviously), the USA, the UK, New Zealand, Germany and Canada.
The hospital has treated 31 koalas so far, including Lewis, the koala that was rescued by a woman who took her shirt off and ran over burning embers in sandals to save. The footage went around the world, but sadly Lewis was put down after it became obvious his burns were just too bad.
In times of disaster, people pull together in a really impressive way, and this is a perfect example of that. Koalas are such loved little creatures, and while the fires have been utterly devastating for the population, the survivors will be given the best of care with these funds.
Anyway, I’m off to cry about koalas for the rest of my life.