“A lot of these places (like my home in Mollymook, and Mallacoota, Kangaroo Island, Eden etc) rely on the tourist dollar for their very survival.”
Turia described how the initiative is an online community board of sorts, where local businesses in fire-affected towns can list their goods and services for people to buy.
She added: “Spend your money with the people and the communities who really, truly need it. They need you. We need you.
“This is a way to put money directly in the pockets of the people and communities who need it the most, and need it NOW.
“Long after the threat is over and the choppers stop flying overhead. Long after summer ends and the wail of sirens ceases in the streets. Help them rebuild. Make them feel heard. Spend with them,” she wrote.
Turia’s message comes after the doting mother of one-year-old son Hakavai revealed she is pregnant with baby number two and absolutely loving life with her fiancé Michael Hoskin.
It’s a world away from 2011, when Turia was battling to stay alive after suffering burns to 65 per cent of her body from being trapped in a grass fire during an ultramarathon.
Speaking with New Idea, the 32-year-old previously admitted that motherhood has changed absolutely everything for her.
“I always thought that after Hakavai I’d go and do something crazy like Ultraman (three ironman races back-to-back), but now I’ve had him, my priorities have shifted,” she said.
