This 6-year-old boy raised more than 250 euros for Australia by making small clay koalas

6-year-old boy makes small clay koalas in exchange for donations to save animals threatened by fires in Australia

Owen Colley is 6 years old, lives in Hingham, Massachusetts, and upon learning of the terrible fires that are ravaging Australia and the resulting animal slaughters, he felt deeply despondent.

He then drew a kangaroo, a koala and a dingo in the rain, thus representing his desire to put out the flames. It was the first time he wanted something other than Legos or himself, Caitlin Colley, his mother, told CNN.

So she got an idea and asked him to make gods clay koala based on a sketch by him, to be given to relatives and friends in exchange for a donation for Australian animals. Owen has so far produced 55 cute little koalas that his parents distribute in exchange for donations of $ 50 or more to Wildlife Rescue South Coast, a wildlife rescue group in New South Wales.

Thanks to this initiative, the Colley family managed to raise more than $ 250.000 in two weeks. They initially hit $ 1.000 through Venmo and then, seeing that people were responding enthusiastically, they launched a GoFundMe campaign.

Owen said he is committed to ensuring that more and more people know what is happening to animals in Australia, where fires have affected half a billion animals and claimed millions of lives. Also because he is in some way linked to this country, in fact his father, Simon, grew up in the suburbs of Sydney and Owen himself lived in Australia for a few months when he was little.

This 6-year-old boy raised more than 250 euros for Australia by making small clay koalas

To make her koalas, she takes 3 to 4 minutes using silver Sculpey clay to make the head and body, white clay to make the ears fluffy, black clay to shape the animal's face. Then he puts them in the oven at 275 degrees and in about 17 minutes the koalas are ready. In the meantime he has even run out of clay and his mother is trying to find more as the orders are growing day by day:

“We're seeing all the donations coming in and we're like, 'Oh my God, we don't have clay. We have every intention of satisfying every koala, it just won't happen by tomorrow. He is a 6 year old boy who uses his little hands to create spaces and ears, so it takes time. "

Donations range from $ 5 to $ 150, and they have come from most of the United States, and the goal now is to be able to help as many organizations as possible across Australia. In addition, Owen's mother hopes that other families will follow their initiative, so that there will be more help:

“Anyone can make a difference and when we come together we can make an even bigger difference. I love the idea that maybe other children can bring it to their communities and sell little clay koalas locally and raise money for this great cause. "

What a nice idea!