Australian firefighters have had their hands full battling devastating brushfires for the past few weeks now.

It’s a grueling fight against a force of nature that has already claimed four lives and hundreds of homes. Even sadder is the fact that even the wildlife has been affected by the blazes, either burned to death or severely injured.

Of particular note are the koalas who have become the faces of the devastation that these wildfires have caused.

But all that tragedy has not gone unnoticed and more than $1 million in donations have already been raised for the benefit of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital as it works tirelessly to help these adorable marsupials.

In this battle, help has come from half a world away in the form of special mittens for affected koalas. For the joeys, little pouches have also been sewn together to protect their little paws.

These special gifts are courtesy of a Dutch community that has decided to work together to help the koalas.

Jeltje van Essen, a quilter from Quiltship 100 Rozen in Deventer City, was the one who organized the campaign.

She told SBS Dutch: “I have the time, I have the material and I have the people.”

So far, more than 400 mittens and 100 pouches have been sewn for the koalas and joeys that are being rehabilitated.

Jeltje added: “I always want to have a smile on a face, and I know how hard it is to work with animals that are sick or children that are sick.

“If you then have a mitten with a pattern of a koala or another beautiful pattern, it generates a smile on a face. That’s what I hope for. So we have used the best cotton you can find with lovely fabrics.”

These tireless volunteers spent countless hours making the mittens and the first batch is now ready for shipment.

The mitten-making team managed to convince Royal Dutch Airlines KLM to fly the special mittens to Kuala Lumpur which will then be flown to Brisbane through a Qantas flight.

 

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