Donations For The Devastation Down Under: How You Can Do Your Bit For Bushfire Victims

Donations for the Devastation Down Under - Photo Courtesy: Main image, Emma McKeon, from outside her home; and inset Zoe Baker Twitter

Bushfires continued to burn dangerously out of control on Australia’s east coast on Saturday, fuelled by high temperatures and strong winds that had firefighters battling to save lives and property.

Yesterday, our Oceania Correspondent Ian Hanson broke the news that the McKeon swim family was safe after being evacuated from a lakeside home they have in New South Wales.

The worldwide swim community has responded with best wishes for the safety of all and small but significant acts of kindness such as that tweeted by Zoe Baker, the former world record holder turned coach and now back in Britain after having spent years in New Zealand.

I’m donating profits of my swim clinic this afternoon to help rescue the wildlife in Australia ??. Please help them if you can ? ? ? ? https://t.co/0hjOPyYjFd pic.twitter.com/2EWPxoxIbv

— Zoe Baker (@zoebaker292) January 4, 2020

Stars of sport and music are among those who have made generous donations to charities and emergency services coming to the rescue of the people and wildlife affected by the fires.

Devastated Pink donates $500,000 to Australia’s fire services as blaze rages out of control

Authorities Down Under say the worst of catastrophic conditions is yet to come.

By early evening Australia time on Saturday, Victoria had 16 fires rated at emergency or evacuate warning levels and New South Wales (NSW) had 12 rated emergency, with more than 100 others burning across the states. New fires had started, and others had broken containment lines.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian told media at a briefing:

“We are in for a long night and we are still to hit the worst of it. It’s a very volatile situation.”

Authorities are worried the fires could turn out to be worse than those that raged on New Year’s Eve, burning massive tracts of bushland and forcing thousands of residents and Aussie summer holidaymakers to seek refuge on beaches.

Are you staging an event to raise donations to help Australians caught in the catastrophe on their doorstep? Let us know in comments or at editorial@swimmingworld.com.

Where and What to Donate To:

Ian Hanson listed some relevant charities in his article yesterday, and The Sydney Morning Herald today runs this piece listing the relevant charities, what they do and how to donate.

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