On Monday, representatives from SchoolAid visited the school to present a cheque for $30,000 that had been raised through the organisation. 

The not-for-profit describes itself as the country’s first crowdfunding platform for children. 

Founder and CEO of SchoolAid Sean Gordon said 127 schools from around Australia had held various fundraisers in the wake of the March 18 bushfire to donate to the school in Tathra. 

“There were more than 100 schools and all of the kids in those schools wanted us to send a message that said ‘we are thinking about you’,” he said when speaking to pupils at a Tathra School assembly on the day. 

SchoolAid board member Dennis Yarrington said there was a huge range of donations, with some schools donating $100 and others donating up to $1000. 

Tathra School principal Lisa Freedman said she was unaware fundraisers were being run for the school until the not-for-profit rang her to say they had raised the $30,000. 

She said the donation provided an opportunity to look to the future and celebrate the regeneration of the town. 

“Our school values are respect, responsibility and kindness, and it’s actually an example of these three values as well as the generosity of spirit,” she said. 

The money will go towards three projects including the creation of a new sensory, green outdoor learning space and, helped by members of Rotary and Lions Clubs, replanting the school’s vegetable and Indigenous bush tucker garden which had been destroyed in the fire. 

The money will also assist with publishing a book of stories, poems and illustrations by the school’s pupils focusing on regeneration.

“It will be a piece of history to keep in our library,” Ms Freedman said. 

Ms Freedman said in addition to the SchoolAid monies, about $18,000 had been given to the school through donations by the community which would also go towards the projects. 

While she said the money may not cover the construction of the green space, the school would fundraise more if needed and will also consider fundraising for other causes in the future. 

“Now we know about [SchoolAid] we can look to the future and think about projects we’d like to fundraise for,” Ms Freedman said. 

The day was also a homecoming of sorts for Mr Gordon, who started SchoolAid in 1999 when working as the principal of St Patrick’s Primary School in Bega. 

“I know Bega is particularly giving as a community,” he said. 

“I’m really proud to be a Bega person.”