Tingha blaze: Tamworth Public School students donate hampers to those who lost their homes

The blaze that devastated numerous homes and businesses was declared a natural disaster in February.

One of those homes belonged to Amelia's uncle.

"I was sad because my uncle was one of the people affected by the fire: his house burnt down," the Year 6 student said.

"We had some help from our friends. They thought it was a good idea and they wanted to help and get involved."

Over a sandwich at lunch, the girls talked about things they could do to help people who had lost their homes.

Inspired by a lesson Natalie's class had taken on kids in Africa, who were happy despite not having all the opportunities they did, the girls decided on Hampers of Hope.

"We heard about them on the news and we decided we should make a difference by making hampers," Year 6 student Natalie said.

"I thought how lucky I was and how much you have compared to them, who have lost everything."

The hampers filled with goodies people would need, such as non-perishable food items, toiletries and "lots of pasta definitely", the pair's fathers have kindly agreed to drive the donations out to Tingha this weekend.

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At a Tamworth Public School assembly, the girls took their idea to the masses.

"That was in front of 1000 kids. It was pretty scary at the start, but once you got talking it was OK," Natalie said.

"We talked about how lucky we were and [how] even one item can make a difference. We have close to 1000 students and if everyone donated something, we would have so much stuff."

It took a couple of weeks for the girls to put the hampers together, but they hope to continue to collect goods in the future.

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