AN NINE-YEAR-OLD Ararat girl is the heart behind a project that is gaining international traction.
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Lilli-Rose is encouraging people to spread a positive message with Hands of Hope, a project in which households cut out and decorate paper hands and display them on their front windows for all to see.
The hands symbolise hope for a cure to COVID-19 and the hope that everyone stays safe.
Lilli-Rose's Hands of Hope Facebook page, which is managed by her Nana Michele Bennett, has posts from families as far away as Northern Ireland, Switzerland, and the United States.
The project was born after Ms Bennett saw Lilli-Rose had made and displayed her own hands of hope at home.
When Ms Bennett asked her what she was doing, Lilli-Rose replied that she made them to help with the coronavirus.
"She said I hope these help with the coronavirus. I put it on Facebook and people said I should make a page for it," she said.
Neither Lilli-Rose nor Ms Bennett were sure how to make a page so they enlisted the help of family friend Kelly Richards.
"Now I get inbox (messages) from all over the world and in Ararat the hands are everywhere," Ms Bennett said.
Ms Bennett described her grand-daughter as "very thoughtful" and having "a lot of heart."
Lilli-Rose said she was "very proud" to have started something that was gaining so much positive attention.
"It's crazy. There have been lots of comments (on Facebook) saying how wonderful the idea was," she said.
"I was just crafting when Nana was at work when I cut out and coloured my hand with Grandma, who went first, and we put it on the window to display what we'd done. That's how it went viral.
"When Nana asked me, I said they were hands of hope to find a cure for coronavirus ... and saying I hope everyone feels better."
In other news:
Lilli-Rose's original hands are still on display and she said she enjoyed seeing everybody else's hands being posted on Facebook.
"I think it's wonderful that everybody's kept it going and it's gone worldwide," she said.
Lilli-Rose said she tried not to focus too much on the coronavirus itself.
"I just try to think positively and hope that everybody is okay," she said.
"Hopefully we can find a cure."
The Hands of Hope by Lilli-Rose Facebook page can be found here.
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