Early childhood teacher Carrie Lagerstedt, from Pukekohe, yesterday offered to "make as many posies as possible" for the children's graves, sparking more than 1000 likes on the New Zealand Herald Facebook page.
She has since been inundated with offers, forcing her to set up a Givealittle page to manage the donations which will go to towards purchasing flowers and materials for the posies.
"It really turned into something large quite quickly," she said.
"I've had a really, really great response from the local businesses. I've had a response from a local grower, they're going to donate flowers, and one of the local florists has said she'll help me as well.
"Local businesses have been placing donation boxes on their shop counters, and a floristry student has said she can help me out. Friends have said, 'Hey, you can set it all up in my garage if you like', so everyone's been really lovely."
It was "heartening" to see how the community had "rallied around to support the families," she said.
"I can't even imagine how heartbreaking losing a child is, let alone having to go through all that."You see the children's grave sites and they're just so bright and happy, and they're just these wonderful places of memory and remembrance, and I just feel like I want them to go back to that, to go back to being the happy places of memory [they were before].
"It rises above what's happened, and it shows that the community is rising above and that we're helping those families rise above the negative, and that it goes back to being a peaceful resting place for the children and a peaceful place of remembrance for the families."
Video: What did this man see in the cemetery?
The Givealittle page had reached almost $500 since it was set up yesterday.
"I'm thinking if it's more than we need... I'll use the money to do bouquets for the families, and if we've still got some left over I'll talk to the council about how the families might be able to use it," Miss Lagerstedt said.
"There were grave stones damaged and the crosses broken. It's not really fair for the families, to not only go through the pain and grief, but to have to deal with the monetary strain of replacing it all."
She has emailed Auckland Council cemeteries manager Catherine Moore to discuss how to ensure the posies are given to the families once they're completed.
"I'm just going to go through the council as to when's the appropriate time and place to do that, I might even have to drop it off to the council and they do it," she said.
"I don't want to be insensitive [to the families], so I'm just waiting to hear back from them."
Auckland Council said it was focussing on "supporting families" affected by the vandalism.
"We are continuing to talk to those affected and will hold onto any items that have been saved until we can locate the appropriate families," Ms Moore said in a statement.
"The children's area has been cordoned off and security posted at the site. Council staff will today look at other parts of the cemetery which also suffered damage."
To donate to the flower fund go to: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/betterplace#
