Kids from Canberra and Queanbeyan on a posting to Washington DC with their parents have raised funds for bushfire relief by selling Aussie lollies such as Caramello Koalas, snakes and Violet Crumbles to their American compatriots - and are planning to add more with a fundraising Tim Tam Slam event at their school.
Queanbeyan siblings Hank and Harper Harris are in Washington with their mum Abbie Grant and dad Paul Harris, an ANU counsellor at the Australian Embassy. Forrest teenager and Hank's good friend, Iris Cooper, is also in Washington, with dad Keith and mum Katrina, who is the deputy head of mission at the embassy.
When Hank and Harper were back in Canberra over the Christmas holidays staying with their grandparents Dennis and Robyn Grant, they were shocked and saddened by the extent of the bushfires and the claustrophobic smoke that enveloped the national capital.
"I felt so sad," Harper, 10, said. "I felt hopeless about what I could do."
During their time back in Canberra, they saw family friends lose their homes on the coast and other people forced out of their homes as they escaped the fires. Tenants in their own family home in Queanbeyan were also evacuated due to the Beard fire and kept out of their house for days due to the toxic smoke.
Hank said the American media covered the bushfires earlier in the piece but dropped the story last month, with many people not realising that fires were still raging, including close to Canberra. In year 11 at the Washington International School, Hank, 17, helped to explain what he had seen, once he returned to the US.
"We've given a a couple of talks at assembly about how the issue was ongoing and what it was really like to be a climate change refugee," he said, of his friends who had lost, or been driven from, their homes.
Hank and Harper also used money they had received for Christmas to come up with the genius idea of filling a suitcase with Australian lollies and selling them to their schoolmates in the US to raise funds for WIRES, the Red Cross and NSW Rural Fire Service.
Mum Abbie said they did have to open the suitcase for the TSA (Transport Security Administration) on arrival back in the US but "no infringement. Must have been the Wizz Fizz". Suspicious white powder and all that.
Harper held a lolly stand with other delicacies such as Bundaberg Rum ginger beer to raise funds.
"I feel really happy about it and really glad I had the idea to do it," she said.
Iris, 16, who has been in DC since late 2017, also helped conjure up the fundraising ideas. They have all together raised close to $2000.
"It's hard to watch a country burn and so many people suffer and so many beautiful wildlife lost and not do something about it," Iris said.
The kids also have a stash of Tim Tams and Milos and plan to introduce their entire school to the Tim Tam Slam next week to raise more funds.
The lollies and sweets, meanwhile, were quickly snapped up by their schoolmates, with Caramello Koalas a favourite.
"I think they were a bit weirded out at first but they came around," Hank said.
"I'm super-proud of my school community because it's been so generous and so supportive."
