The wider Bega Valley community is doing what it can to help following the devastating March 18 bushfire.
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Former Tathra resident Lucy McPherson, along with fellow Bega High School classmates Arthur McManus and Nick Durkin, together raised $24,000 for Bega Valley Shire Council's Mayoral Appeal Fund, from over 1000 kilometres away in Byron Bay.
I grew up in Tathra and it feels good to give back.
- Former Tathra resident Lucy McPherson
The amount was raised during a week of online fundraising and raffles, combined with the screening of surfing documentary Thundercloud, with tickets selling out within hours.
Ms McPherson, whose mother was evacuated from Kalaru during the fire, said there were “many familiar faces” in the 130-strong crowd on March 26.
“I have friends whose families lost everything, and I wanted to help out but wasn’t sure what I could do,” she said.
When she received a call from her mother Debbie on the day of the fires, Ms McPherson said she could sense the situation was “quite serious”.
“I could tell from the tone of her voice she was quite frightened,” she said.
“It felt a little bit surreal.”
She said over a third of the crowd for the screening had a personal connection to Tathra.
“There were people there who were directly affected, and really nice gestures made by the crowd,” she said.
“I grew up in Tathra and it feels good to give back.”
The night was so popular, the venue was changed after tickets sold out in just two days.
“We wanted to capitalise on the media coverage at the time,” she said.
“We are really happy with the result, we are really stoked.”