When Erin Riley tweeted an offer of the paddocks behind her house to bushfire evacuees with animals, the PhD student did not expect herself to be running an emergency accommodation service by the end of the week.

But that’s precisely what happened after her New Year’s Eve tweet was shared widely. People began responding with similar offers, so Riley started a database of volunteers and began matching them with those seeking help.

In four days Riley’s impromptu organisation, FindABed, has received offers of accommodation from more than 3,000 people. They have so far helped some 50 people from fire-affected areas – many with pets, who would otherwise find it difficult to secure accommodation.

“It can be anything from just somewhere to have a cup of tea and wait, to somewhere to stay more long term,” Riley told Guardian Australia. “We even had someone who just wanted a shower.”

Just repeating for anyone evacuating with animals: we have empty fenced paddocks available and we can house horses, etc indefinitely. Send me a DM if you need them. We’re in the Picton/Camden area SW of Sydney, not far from the Hume — Erin Riley (@erinrileyau) December 31, 2019

Riley’s is just one of many stories of community members taking initiative and banding together to support one another amid the devastation and ongoing toll of Australia’s bushfire crisis.

A musician, Kathy Mikkelsen, told Guardian Australia that she and her family had been in Mallacoota where she was supposed to be performing with her band at the golf club on New Year’s Eve. They evacuated on 30 December to Tathra, only to find themselves evacuating again when a warning of approaching fire came through at 3.30am.

Six adults, six children and three dogs – her family as well as her friends’ families – then made their way to Bega, where they got stuck. Concerned about protecting their children from embers falling, they started to erect a camp in the underground car park of the local Safeway, when the trolley attendant, a Sudanese refugee named Ibrahim, stopped them and offered his home for the night – a tiny flat above the shops.

Kathy Mikkelsen and friends, with Ibrahim, the Safeway trolley attendant who hosted them in Bega on New Year’s Eve, after they evacuated Mallacoota and then Tathra

“He found us all beds and his girlfriend cooked us all a big meal,” Mikkelsen wrote on Facebook. “We sheltered there the night and played music with the only instruments we had, a recorder, a ukulele, some spoons and two flashlights for the light show. The couple told us it was the best New Year’s Eve they had ever had.”

She told Guardian Australia: “It was just such a beautiful gesture.”

Stories of resilience are emerging from inside bushfire-affected communities too, such as that of a Malua Bay pharmacist, Raj Gupta, who has kept his pharmacy open despite the area having no power or mobile phone service – and despite the fact that his own home burnt down in the fires this week.

“I’ve had my patients come in and say they’ve not only lost their house and their belongings but also their medication,” he told SBS.

The loss of power means he cannot take payment for the medications. “People will come back and pay,” he says. “They are very honourable people.”

Many evacuation centres are taking in domestic animals and even livestock, setting aside space for them alongside their owners.

These puppers have all been evacuated from the East Gippsland bushfires. They’ve come in stressed from smoke, heat and some of their owners have even lost their homes. This facility in Bairnsdale has taken them all in for free. @abcnews @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/c92X8exJuk — Emilia Terzon (@EmiliaTerzon) January 3, 2020

Donations have been rolling in to Foodbank Victoria, with footage showing queues of cars lined up to drop off goods at its Yarraville donations point.

Refugee and migrant communities have also been organising support. On Thursday the Australian Islamic Centre in Hobsons Bay, Victoria, issued a callout for donations of funds and essential food and supplies through social media and its community networks. It also held a sausage sizzle on Friday that raised $1,500 for bushfire relief.

Preparations are underway for the journey to the fields of the Melbourne Bushfires. Our Partners at the Australian Islamic Centre have done an amazing Job in help putting it all together. #AustraliaBurning #australiaisburning #AustraliaBushfires https://t.co/4aLjrQ0Gso — Human Appeal Aus (@HumanAppealAus) January 3, 2020

Members of the community distributed the food and essentials on Saturday to fire-affected regions, with the assistance of the MFB and charity Human Appeal Australia.

The Muslim community has been organising bushfire relief since the fires started in New South Wales in November. The Afghan community group the Kateb Hazara Association made a $18,252 donation to the Rural Fire Service.

In December a group of four men from Sydney’s Muslim community in Auburn took a ute loaded with sausages, water and a barbecue, and drove six hours north to Willawarrin to cook for the community after fire tore through the small town in November.

“We can’t fight fires but we can put a barbecue on,” one of the men, Jawad Nabouche, told the ABC. “It’s the least we can do, to try help the community and help everybody up here and put a smile on everybody’s faces.”

CFA volunteer Bob calls into the ABC Gippsland to say the Islamic community has come to Lakes entrance with 4-5 trucks carrying food and supplies. "First round of snags are already cooked and they just need customers," he says. "Everything is free." #vicfires — Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) January 4, 2020

Some communities have been banding together to prepare for potentially dangerous conditions ahead. Karen-Burmese refugees in the town of Nhill, in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, have produced in-language bushfire safety videos with the help of the Country Fire Authority for newcomers to their community. The region regularly faces hot, dry summers, with temperatures in the high 30s expected in the coming week.

Celebrities and public figures have also been contributing to the bushfire relief campaign.

The comedian Celeste Barber raised an estimated $5.5m in donations in 24 hours for firefighting services after posting an appeal to Instagram, accompanied by images of the eerie yellow light that could be seen from inside her mother-in-law’s house.

“This is out of control! You are all out of control. My love and appreciation for you all is out of control,” she wrote on Facebook on Saturday morning, as the pledged donation total continued to rise. “Unfortunately today the fires are due to get even more out of control. Thank you.”

Local and international musicians have put on a host of fundraising gigs, after the annual Falls festival in Lorne was cancelled last week due to bushfire threat.

Peking Duk donated $50,000 to the Red Cross and fire services across the country from a hastily arranged show at Melbourne’s Esplanade Hotel on Sunday night. The gig raised $44,500 from sales of tickets, merchandise and direct donations, with the band rounding up the total donated figure themselves.

The Melbourne pop singer G Flip raised an estimated $10,000 in donations from her Falls replacement gig on Monday night. The US pop star Halsey and the UK pop-punk artist Yungblud also held fundraising concerts this week, while New Year’s Eve revellers in Sydney donated more than $2m to the Red Cross bushfire relief.