SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – From across the world, volunteers in western Massachusetts are crafting for a good cause– making unique mittens, pouches, and blankets for Australia’s wildlife as brushfires continue to devastate parts of the country.
University of Sydney Professor Chris Dickman estimates that 480 million animals have been affected by the fires.
“Many of the affected animals are likely to have been killed directly by the fires, with others succumbing later due to the depletion of food and shelter resources and predation from introduced feral cats and red foxes,” Dickman said.
Facebook has connected thousands of people, like Leah Ferreira from Palmer, through a group called American Rescue Crafters Connect.
“I saw that people from all over the United States were making these little pouches for the animals and I said ‘oh my god,’ I can do that, even our kids can do that,” Ferreira said.
Ferreira, owner of Are You Stitchin’ Me, usually crafts iced coffee cozies out of her Palmer home, but over the next few days she’ll refocus her creative energy to make some of the items needed the most, according to Australia’s Animal Rescue Collective Craft Guild:
And she’s got four helpers! Her daughters, Vivian, Olivia, Vera, and Ophelia have also been hard at work making pouches for the animals in need.
“We live on two acres, and we have three dogs, so we love animals,” the mother of four said. “We love watching all the deer and stuff around us so it was only natural for us to want to help.”
The family plans on making at least 20 joey pouches of all sizes to help out koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and even tiny sugar gliders.
How to get involved
In just two days, the Facebook group has grown to include nearly 15,000 members from around the U.S. If you want to help out, first you have to join the group at ‘American Rescue Crafters Connect.’
From there, click ‘Files’ and you’ll find tutorials on how to make the items needed by Australian animal rescue organizations. You’ll also be able to find your region’s contact through the file named ‘HUBs for American Rescue Crafters,’ so that you can coordinate where to mail your crafted items.
“If you’re not crafty, if you don’t want to sew they even have a donation thing, where you can donate money to help people ship these supplies, or buy bandages, because I know they need bandages, they need water, they need a ton of stuff to help these animals and people too,” Ferreira added.
Send photos of your crafted items to ReportIt@wwlp.com!
FIEL – In this image made from video taken on Dec. 22, 2019, and provided by Oakbank Balhannah CFS, a koala drinks water from a bottle given by a firefighter in Cudlee Creek, South Australia. Thousands of koalas are feared to have died in a wildfire-ravaged area north of Sydney, further diminishing Australia’s iconic marsupial, while the fire danger accelerated Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019 in the country’s east as temperatures soared. (Oakbank Balhannah CFS via AP, File) 
In this undated photo taken and provided by Mike Barth, Daniella Teixeira, who is working on a doctoral degree about the birds at The University of Queensland, holds the shiny black-cockatoo in Kangaroo Island, Australia. Devastating wildfires over recent days have undone decades of careful conservation work on Kangaroo Island and have threatened to wipe out some of the island’s unique fauna altogether.(Mike Barth via AP) 
In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2019 photo provided by State Government of Victoria, a helicopter tackles a wildfire in East Gippsland, Victoria state, Australia. Wildfires burning across Australia’s two most-populous states trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions Tuesday, Dec. 31, and were feared to have destroyed many properties and caused fatalities. (State Government of Victoria via AP) 
A Forest Corporation worker manages a fire hose as he battles a fire near Moruya, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison called up about 3,000 reservists as the threat of wildfires escalated Saturday in at least three states with two more deaths, and strong winds and high temperatures were forecast to bring flames to populated areas including the suburbs of Sydney. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) 
Firefighters drag a hose to battle a fire near Bendalong, Australia, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. Navy ships plucked hundreds of people from beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee before hot, windy weather worsens Australia’s devastating wildfires. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) 
Koala rescued from Australian bushfire (NBC News) 
In Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, photo, firefighters work on a controlled burn in Koorainghat, New South Wales state, Australia. Hundreds of schools remained closed across Australia’s most populous state on Tuesday, Nov. 12, and residents were urged to evacuate woodlands for the relative safety of city centers as authorities braced for extreme fire danger. (Darren Pateman/AAP Images via AP) 
Firefighters work to contain a bushfire along Old Bar road in Old Bar, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019. Wildfires razing Australia’s drought-stricken east coast have left two people dead and several missing, more than 30 injured and over 150 homes destroyed, officials said Saturday.(Darren Pateman/AAP Image via AP)
