Her excitement increased when she got to hold and play the donated guitar.

The 12-year-old's appreciation to the Soldier On guitar group for its donation of the Washburn guitar was etched all over her face.

Soldier On member Mike Hogan and his wife Joan had the pleasure of visiting Chloe and her family at their Morton home, near Milton, this week.

The Hamilton family are currently living in a temporary home on their farm while their recently condemned house gets rebuilt.

Their family home and Chloe's guitar were badly damaged during the summer bushfire crisis.

Mike could not be happier that Chloe has a new guitar and he and Joan very much enjoyed their visit.

Chloe, a year six student at Milton Public School, is looking forward to jamming with her best friend TJ.

She likes pop music, enjoys playing the guitar and dad Trent, who is in a band, teaches her.

The Hamilton family dad Trent, mum Karen, Chloe and 10-year-old Dylan have been through a lot.

The fire struck their farm on January 4 with brutal force.

Trent, when the fire hit, stayed with a neighbour to defend their homes, while Karen and the children headed for safety.

"He called me while they took shelter and I said what is that loud noise and he said 'well that is the fire'. I said 'you need to get out' but he couldn't," Karen said.

"We did not know if he was going to get out and he did tell me the house was gone and everything was burnt."

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The family had just come back to their farm a week ago and are now back together after living in Mollymook during what Karen said was a disjointed time.

Karen said hearing music makes them feel like they are back home.

"Everyone is back together doing what we were doing before the fire," she said.

Trent, an accomplished guitar player, said the donation was overwhelming.

"We have been through a lot over the past six months and it has been very hard," he said.

"It's unbelievable that people are still doing this for us and helping us out and making sure we are doing okay - it's a very nice thing."

Trent said playing music was part of the healing process.

He said playing music by himself and with the kids makes him feel better.

"It [playing music] is a good family thing to do," Trent said.

Mike was lost for words.

Approximately 18 months ago a couple of Navy veterans from Soldier On Guitar Group in Canberra, Colin Greef and Mike Hogan, decided to start a project that would keep them occupied while also helping the community at the same time.

It was decided to help not only veterans but also help children that love music but for some reason either are unable to purchase or get access to a guitar.

The idea was to ask members of the public to donate guitars either in good or poor condition so that they could be repaired and then donated to children who are interested in playing music. The response from the Canberra public has been above expectations where approximately 100 guitars and ukuleles have been donated.

To date over 30 guitars have been donated to disadvantaged children around Canberra and local areas and also schools in Dalgety and Adaminaby who have fantastic music programmes for the children.

The group hopes that by donating guitars to children will give them the encouragement to be active in music. Music brings people of all walks of life together, not all children want to play sports.

Music to the Soldier On group is for a number of reasons not only mates getting together but also the therapeutic benefits of playing the guitars.

The idea to approach schools on the South Coast was because not only to put something back into the community but also the two people responsible for the project spent many happy days serving at HMAS Albatross.

The trip and presenting the guitars was planned shortly after the fires, unfortunately COVID 19 came along and put the plans on hold for a couple of months.

However, the trip was not forgotten, and plans are now in place for more visits.

The group will be visiting schools and donating guitars to schools in Nowra, Milton, Ulladulla, Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma.

Soldier On is a fantastic organisation, it is all about mateship and we encourage any ex-service people, whether from Defence, Police. SES or any emergency department to get in touch with Soldier On.