![Dolly's mother Kate Everett continues Dolly's Dream through her work raising awareness about bullying. Dolly's mother Kate Everett continues Dolly's Dream through her work raising awareness about bullying.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/tom.hanks%40fairfaxmedia.com.au/93279d96-7ad8-4bec-ae05-36115b2d1d05.jpg/r0_0_6000_4000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It's been an emotional day for Katherine as residents of all ages stood up to bullying in tribute to Amy 'Dolly' Everett.
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Dolly grew up in the Katherine region before moving to Cairns, where severe bullying both online and in-person led the 14-year-old to take her own life in early 2018.
Her parents then made the courageous decision to speak out in their daughter's name, and their message for kids and their parents to 'speak even if your voice shakes' sparked a nationwide conversation.
Today their work continued with the second annual 'Do It For Dolly Day' in partnership with the Alannah and Madeline Foundation.
Australians are asked to raise awareness on this day by wearing blue, raising money and using #DoItForDollyDay online.
Dolly's mother Kate Everett was on hand at Nutrien Ag Solutions today in Katherine East as the company threw snags on the BBQ and sold cupcakes to raise funds.
"Katherine is behind everything we do, if you drive down the street today there's blue everywhere so can see how much people care here," she said.
![This sign on Chardon Street was one of many shows of support around Katherine today. This sign on Chardon Street was one of many shows of support around Katherine today.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/tom.hanks%40fairfaxmedia.com.au/03c4c2ab-a2a6-40be-9ecd-91825bb7929c.JPG/r0_307_6000_3694_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Of course it is a really emotional day for us and this morning was really hard, but the support is incredible to see and we never thought it would become what it has.
"The mentions for Dolly online have gone through the roof and there's hundreds of businesses all around Australia getting behind us today," Kate said.
While their original goal was to raise $20,000, their efforts since Dolly's tragic death have garnered more than $2.2 million in fundraising for anti-bullying programs so far.
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Their website also features a variety of tools for both parents and children to better handle bullying whether it takes place in-person or online.
Students raising money at Katherine High School said the motivation to fund-raise was personal, and the message for children of their age to speak up resonates deeply with their day-to-day experiences.
Year Nine student Makayla Zelley organised the school's fundraising activities today as students made gold-coin donations to wear blue to school and sold home-made goodies at a baking stall.
She became emotional when asked to elaborate on why she instigated today's events, but showed bravery and intelligence in speaking for her peers.
"I knew people who knew Dolly and you'll find everybody in this community knew her somehow," she said.
"There are kids here at school with me who are really struggling because of bullying, mostly in-person but also online.
![Katherine High School's Dolly Day fundraisers Georgina Harley (left), Makayla Zelley, Ashley Allison, Sophia Bartlett, Olivia Usher and Mia Harris (right). Katherine High School's Dolly Day fundraisers Georgina Harley (left), Makayla Zelley, Ashley Allison, Sophia Bartlett, Olivia Usher and Mia Harris (right).](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/tom.hanks%40fairfaxmedia.com.au/36d4d313-1595-4105-a518-7a2076f0c2a3.JPG/r0_307_6000_3694_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Most kids probably wouldn't tell their parents if they were being bullied or struggling but we need to help them find people they trust to speak with about it.
"We need to encourage them to go their teachers for support and keep raising the awareness around bullying," Makayla said.
The efforts of Makayla and her peers had already contributed $360 by lunchtime with more expected to come over the rest of the day.
For school principal Sharon Oldfield, bullying remains a massive challenge for the all educators and the online space in particular is concerning.
"We really do have to to be proactive in getting our kids involved and talking to the right people," she said.
"If it comes into school then we do our best to handle it but when it's online it's really difficult to know and so children have to come forward for us to find out," Ms Oldfield said.
The difficulties of managing bullying online was further highlighted over the Easter weekend as reports across Australia spiked to 360% of their normal rate, possibly due to increased screen-time during isolation.
Kate Everett, however, says their movement for Dolly is far from over.
"We'll keep going on the path we're on, it's taken us two years to put together our online parent hub support program," she said.
"We've got our Digi License online as well which is for parents to sit down and complete with their kids.
"There's scenarios to learn various strategies for situations kids might find themselves in.
"For us, we've got zero government funding so the task is to continue building on what we've got and that's exactly we'll go out and do.
"I just want to give a massive shout out to everyone in the Katherine community and across Australia because they make Dolly's Dream what it is today," Kate said.
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