The 22-year-old has in the last six months helped thousands of Australian children after starting her own bushfire recovery charity.

Ms Harpley watched from afar as the January bushfires tore through the Snowy Valleys, from her parents' home in Wagga and then from her house in Canberra where she studies at ANU.

"The distance really did it for me," she said.

"I was noticing there was a big gap between the city and the country. We were hearing a lot about the South Coast fires, but it made me think, if Canberra's not thinking about the fires in Tumbarumba, who is?"

She said she grew distressed thinking about other young people, teenagers and children whose lives would be completely destablized by the fires.

"I think back to when I was a kid, we weren't worried about things like that ... Whether you're age five or age 15, it's very traumatic," she said.

Ms Harpley knew she wanted to help and after gathering a small pool of donations she went to three schools in the region and asked how she could assist.

It was here the idea of Books for the Bush began.

Ms Harpley has now sent out hundreds of packages to bushfire-affected children and schools not only in the Riverina but across NSW and in places as far flung as Kangaroo Island.

She's delivered books and school supplies to more than 5000 children, raised $4200 in financial aid, and sent care packages to many women.

While Books for the Bush has grown dramatically, Ms Harpley said she remained in constant contact with families and communities, whose needs have changed over the last couple of months with the onset of coronavirus.

"It's an evolving situation especially with these compounding crises," she said.

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Books for the Bush has shifted its focus to second hand laptops and devices for fire-affected or otherwise disadvantaged children who have been learning remotely during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"You might have five or six kids at home and one laptop between them," she said.

"It's kind of absurd that a charity run by a uni student is filling the gap."

Bushfire-affected communities, she said, were struggling and felt they had been forgotten as this new crisis escalated.

"It's very common knowledge that the people in the bushfires haven't received the help they were promised," she said.

"With the pandemic it's been this mantra of 'we're all in this together'. But, really, we're in it to varying degrees."

Ms Harpley said her mission was to "plant a seed" of compassion and empathy in the communities she was able to help.

"The response has been that that's working and people can't wait until they're on their feet," she said.

"To my mind it's remarkable that these people are only six months out from the flames and are already wanting to pay it forward."

More information about Ms Harpley's organisation can be found on its Facebook page or Chuffed site.