West Hollywood City Raising Awareness And Donations To Support Australia Wildfire Recovery Efforts

From the City of West Hollywood:

February 20, 2020

The City of West Hollywood is encouraging community members to take part in donating to organizations that are organizing recovery efforts in response to the devastating wildfires in Australia. The City of West Hollywood is activating its West Hollywood Responds program to help facilitate contributions from community organizations that are working on aid and recovery. The City has assembled a list of organizations on its website at www.weho.org/wehoresponds.

“Australia was devastated by some of the worst wildfires the world has ever witnessed, with large swaths of the country overwhelmed with damage and destruction. In addition to the two-dozen people who died, many millions of animals were killed and fire-affected regions are just beginning to recover,” said Councilmember Lauren Meister. “West Hollywood is a community that unites with compassion to respond disasters wherever they may strike. I’m hoping, through the City of West Hollywood’s ‘WeHo Responds’ effort, our community members will support organizations in Australia that are on the frontlines of the massive recovery effort.”

Since September 2019, the wildfires in Australia have killed more than one billion animals, destroyed more than 2,000 homes, and claimed the lives of at least thirty-three people – including 11 firefighters. Although Australia typically experiences a periodic “fire season” that runs from December to March, this year’s season has been particularly catastrophic and has been fueled by record-breaking temperatures and months of severe drought. More than 40-million acres of green landscape have been burned. This is an unprecedented international crisis in which air quality standards have dangerously deteriorated, and many environmental specialists worry that some of the damage could be irreparable.

West Hollywood’s Core Values include Responsiveness to the Public and Public Safety. The City of West Hollywood has a deeply held commitment to actively seeking public participation and to protect the personal safety of the City’s constituents and safeguard the community from the threats of natural, technological, and other hazards. As such, the City is mindful about the role that local governments and organizations play as they seek to assist communities worldwide affected by recent natural disasters.

In 2005, the City Council of the City of West Hollywood first established West Hollywood Responds as a local disaster relief program developed to provide assistance to the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina. It has been reactivated multiple times in the ensuing years. The success of the West Hollywood Responds program illustrated that the City of West Hollywood cares deeply about its citizens and is known for extending this support and respect to communities around the globe.

Some organizations collecting donations to support recovery efforts in Australia include:

• The Australian Red Cross (https://www.redcross.org.au/) is accepting donations to its Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund, which has helped to send 1,285 staff members and volunteers to communities affected by the fires and to provide support to displaced people sheltering in more than 69 evacuation and recovery centers. Volunteering roles are also possible.
• GIVIT (http://www.givit.org.au/) is an Australian organization that matches donated goods with items that are specifically requested by victims of the fires. People have asked for things like car batteries, fence posts and gas pumps.
• Salvation Army Australia (https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/) advises donors to send money instead of goods because of the logistical difficulties of storing and distributing goods in areas affected by disasters. Donations are funneled to various forms of assistance, including mental health support and housing.
• NSW Rural Fire Service (https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brigade) includes firefighters and community workers in rural fire brigades that are in the thick of it. Donations are directed to emergency efforts and nonemergency community work.
• RSPCA New South Wales (https://www.rspcansw.org.au/) has veterinarians, inspectors, and staff currently helping to evacuate animals and livestock from affected areas in New South Wales, and will begin to return to areas where the fires have already burned to assess the damage.
• The World Wildlife Fund (https://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/species-adoptions/koala.aspx) has a virtual adopt a koala program and the Port Macquerie Koala Hospital (https://www.koalahospital.org.au/) is helping rehabilitate koalas and build drinking stations for koalas still in their habitats.

For more information, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496. For up-to-date news and events, follow the City of West Hollywood on social media @WeHoCity and sign up for news updates at www.weho.org/email.

This press release was produced by the City of West Hollywood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.