Lauren Hateley, from Avenel, works in mental health across the Goulburn Valley region and created the Facebook page Victorian Business & Services Bushfire Support.
She said her motivation came from watching coverage of bushfires in early January.
“I wanted to do something more than donating to a charity and felt in order to support these families going through difficult times, that one of the ways to help them would be to promote the areas’ businesses,” Ms Hateley said.
“I was thinking of how to help small Victorian communities that potentially don’t have the capacity of having online shopping and Instagram to promote their business.”
On January 12, Ms Hateley, 35, created her Facebook page, which is linked to Central Coast web designer Sarah Britz’s Spend With Us website, so they teamed up.
Both websites contain products for sale, pay-it-forward gifts and accommodation in bushfire-affected communities. One of the pay-it-forward products available online includes fruit and vegetable boxes for Corryong residents impacted by the bushfires and seeking nutrition.
Ms Hateley said Victorians could then purchase gifts, which would go to fire-affected families.
The Instagram account @spendwiththem inspired Ms Hateley and Ms Blitz to create their websites, but with a more local focus.
Both women live in rural communities, and while their properties have been spared this bushfire season, they wanted to positively influence the wellbeing of as many rural communities as they could.
According to Ms Hateley, one of the best things people could do for trauma victims was to let them feel the social support of friends, family and the community.
“For people affected beginning to rebuild their lives, for them to feel like we’re still there to support them, I think that’s a really valuable aspect of the websites,” Ms Hateley said.
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Shepparton's leaders weigh in on bushfire crisis
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