Geelong rallied for Jonah’s mum to raise money during Christmas market.

A Geelong Christmas market has raised more than $4000 for charity to be donated in Jonah Lear’s honour.

Janina Lear has thanked the community for their ongoing support after the tragic death of her son, Jonah (inset) on Tuesday last week.

The grief stricken mother of a teenager who died days before his 19th birthday has thanked the Geelong community for rallying behind her family.

Jonah Lear, 18, was found dead at Point Addis near Torquay on November 29.

His mum, Janina Lear, owns and operates the Piccadilly Markets which was due to hold its annual Christmas event last weekend.

Friends and other operators stepped in to run the market on Ms Lear’s behalf and the event raised $4,475.95 for mental health charities.

All funds raised will be donated to Beyond Blue, Black Dog Institute and the Men’s Shed in honour of Jonah.

Ms Lear told the Geelong Advertiser on Monday she was grateful to the family, friends, volunteers and strangers who stepped in to help.

“All I had to do was try and get 10 minutes on Tuesday (last week) where I could see straight so I could send off some paperwork for the market … everything else was completely taken care of,” she said.

“I don’t know how I can ever repay them for what they did for me and my family.”

The family is still coming to terms with the loss of Jonah and thanked the community for its ongoing support during this difficult time.

“As a family, this is worst thing that could ever happen,” Ms Lear said.

“We are struggling with how public this all it … we never expected it to be (so public).

“It just shows what a good community Geelong is.”

A GoFundMe set up for the Lear family on Tuesday last week has raised more than $27,000 as of Tuesday morning.

If you need help call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Originally published as Geelong rallied for Jonah’s mum to raise money during Christmas market.