The quintessential summer holiday had a very different feel this year. With bushfires and drought ravaging the country, our news and social media feeds were filled with very different photos. However amongst it all, the one thing that stood out amongst everything else was the sense of community.

As the days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, it’s really important that our sense of community doesn’t stop. There are campaigns that will help rebuild these businesses and towns to their former glory, also highlighting the power of social media when it’s harnessed correctly.

@buyfromthebush was an Instagram campaign that started prior to Christmas (and the bushfires) to aid those businesses in rural Australia impacted by the drought. Generally these small businesses are the one thing keeping the families living on the land afloat.

@spendwiththem launched by Turia Pitt who lives in the fire impacted NSW South Coast, with the same premise of showcasing smaller retailers in bushfire impacted communities.

#gowithemptyeskies started as a single Facebook post by Tegan Webber, and has been embraced by thousands. Encouraging people to travel to the fire impacted towns once it was safe, and spend with the local supermarket, bottle-o and other retailers.

Building a sense of community and delivering to that community is an integral part of every business. You may think it’s only one small thing, but multiply everyone’s one small thing and we’ve got a large thing.

PS: Interested in other ways you can give back to your community? Check out our Contribute page here