2019/2020 Aussie Bushfires - Jordy's appeal for help

[GliderPoss]

Thanks @jordyonbass for starting this post.

I second this option:
https://www.facebook.com/officialcelestebarber/.
“Celeste Barber is an Aussie comedian who has set up a fund for our firefighters money going direct into the firefighters trust mentioned earlier - but it has PayPal which is easy for donations”
What a bloody legend - has raised over $16million so far!

My home town area of New England has spent literally months battling fires & choking on thick smoke & ash. It’s been devastating on so many levels.

Right now I’m in Canberra where the smoke is so thick I can barely see outside.... at least I’m safe but praying for those currently in danger.

We are incredibly grateful for all those who have donated money, time or goods to those affected. Also to the firefighters who have flown in from other countries to assist!

 

[D2B]

Jordyonbass thank you for starting the thread and the link to the Victorian firefighters is below:

Fundraising and Partnerships

There are many ways individuals and organisations can support the work of CFA's volunteers, including fundraising and partnership.

www.cfa.vic.gov.au

didnt mean to leave anyone out - that is the challenge, but wanted to post some direct links to make it easy to donate.

I have ordered some P2 masks at Bunnings and will go today to hopefully collect.

lets all pray/hope for rain

 

[meely]

Thanks for this excellent post Jordy and to the other contributors. Links were helpful as I wouldn’t have known where to start. Thinking of you all, it’s truly devastating.

 

[Demon]

WIRES, for me. Very easy.

 

[jordyonbass]

@GliderPoss please stay safe, do you have any P2 masks or other breathing apparatus to help with the ash?

@D2B thank you for posting the CFA details, I hope your P2 mask arrives soon. My father has five P2 masks and it annoys me that they're sitting there unused.

@meely and @Demon thank you for your donations, truly.

UPDATE: I received this photo from someone earlier: this town is called Euroa and about halfway to the evacuation zone as well as being on the route we will be driving, the hills currently look like a lava flow. It's definitely opening my eyes more to the potential danger of this trip, but I just have to do it. People have faced worse than this with more courage and need help. Time to get out my big-boy boots.

 

[Demon]

@GliderPoss please stay safe, do you have any P2 masks or other breathing apparatus to help with the ash?

@D2B thank you for posting the CFA details, I hope your P2 mask arrives soon. My father has five P2 masks and it annoys me that they're sitting there unused.

@meely and @Demon thank you for your donations, truly.

UPDATE: I received this photo from someone earlier: this town is called Euroa and about halfway to the evacuation zone as well as being on the route we will be driving, the hills currently look like a lava flow. It's definitely opening my eyes more to the potential danger of this trip, but I just have to do it. People have faced worse than this with more courage and need help. Time to get out my big-boy boots.

That is so horrendous. Be careful.

 

[Matata]

It's definitely opening my eyes more to the potential danger of this trip,

Please don't let your desire to help interfere with your safety. If you can't complete this mission safely, turn around and go home. Your baby boy and wife need you. Being a dad changes things.

 

[jordyonbass]

Please don't let your desire to help interfere with your safety. If you can't complete this mission safely, turn around and go home. Your baby boy and wife need you. Being a dad changes things.

Thank you @Matata, we're not taking any risks as we're taking full hi visibility clothing, safety boots, P2 air masks and other fire safety equipment in case of the worst but if we see any imminent danger we're getting the hell out of Dodge. We're going to be well looked after in the Evacuation zone as we know a lot of CFA volunteers and firemen in the area who are aware of our delivery and keeping us updated on any changes. I plan on keeping this thread updated as much as possible over the coming week however on Saturday I'm going to be giving my full attention to our task, so the update for that will probably come on Sunday our time.

 

[D2B]

Once this is all done and dusted us Aussie Pricescopers should get together for a wine/coffee and talk about frivolous stuff ( ie diamonds) - I am in albury / Wodonga - on the border of Victoria and NSW - - like you Jordyonbass am contemplating the drive past Euroa to Melb for a specialist appointment - but may defer at this stage

 

[jordyonbass]

Once this is all done and dusted us Aussie Pricescopers should get together for a wine/coffee and talk about frivolous stuff ( ie diamonds) - I am in albury / Wodonga - on the border of Victoria and NSW - - like you Jordyonbass am contemplating the drive past Euroa to Melb for a specialist appointment - but may defer at this stage

I'm in Wodonga a lot, this is definitely something we could arrange! Is Wodonga close to any other PS'ers here?

Unrelated note, but do you know of the area in Wodonga that I colloquially call 'Gemville'? There's Tourmaline drive, Jade court, Diamond drive and my favourite - Opal court.
If I wasn't a man of some kind of moral fibre then that last one would be in my workshop right now

 

[xsouzie]

Thanks @missy, they are organisations that can be donated to but I would recommend WIRES (Wildlife Rescue). You can find them at www.wires.org.au
Hope this helps @Jimmianne

We've probably lost over half a billion wild animals from this, with some feared to now be functionally extinct. It feels like all my years of tagging marine apex predators for scientific research are years I could have spent doing more for wildlife *sigh*

This is so heart breaking. Making my donation right now...stay safe!!

 

[jordyonbass]

UPDATE

Tallangatta has been inundated with goods, literally semi trailer loads worth of gear. They've currently stopped taking donations however a lot may change in five days and they will probably be taking more again shortly. But the mission is still on with something possibly more important, I've got an associate in the Opal trade here in Melbourne that has gone to NSW to fight fires. They're very rural and in desperate need of supplies, unfortunately they are not a priority for the relief centres and are not receiving a lot of resources so if Tallangatta is still closed then we will be continuing to Numeralla with urgently needed supplies. This is going to be even more dangerous, however the RFS may have scouted a route into a safe area in the disaster zone for us. We will be taking anything and everything that they ask for.

This is just what we have been given today by the generous people in our community. The whole country right now is coming together to help all affected by this.

 

[Dandi]

@jordyonbass you're doing a fantastic job, well done indeed. We actually got quite a bit of rain here last night...and we aren't in an area that desperately needs it. My heart hurts.

 

[jordyonbass]

@jordyonbass you're doing a fantastic job, well done indeed. We actually got quite a bit of rain here last night...and we aren't in an area that desperately needs it. My heart hurts.

Thank you! Yes we got a decent amount of rain last night on the western edge of metropolitan Melbourne too. So frustrating, but it looked as though areas like Mallacoota got some too. I really hope it gave our fireys some form of relief, even for a brief time.

 

[partgypsy]

I find this truly heartbreaking. I donated via Celeste Barber's link (I am a fan of hers!) and shared the info on facebook. I truly wish you a miraculous change in weather and more rain.

 

[JPie]

Bumping this thread for visibility. Stay safe, Aussies.

 

[jordyonbass]

Thank you @partgypsy, I greatly appreciate your generosity.

UPDATE:

We've received more generous donations today, however we've also received some of the most valuable cargo of all. These respirator masks are for the fire services and assistants at Numeralla and are currently very hard to source for obvious reasons. They're usually about $50USD each, however we were able to source 8 for $150USD from a supplier. A huge thank you to @Jimmianne, @Rockdiamond and @RayRay for your kind donations as they have directly paid for this desperately needed equipment for the firemen and people of Numeralla. We will be adding more masks to the box and hope it will be overflowing with breathing gear.

Cash donations have also began to come in directly to the fire service to assist with their purchasing requirements. Their captain is at risk of losing his home as he has not been working 20 hour shifts andvhas been unable to make it to the bank to fill out the required paperwork for relief, this is so hard to watch happen to people.

 

[Ella]

Folks, we are all devastated by what is happening in NSW right now, however we do have a policy regarding no fundraising on PS.

We can leave the general links to big organizations, but please do not link to personal go fund me’s or other personal fundraising efforts as unfortunately sometimes people do use these crises as an opportunity for scamming and we do not need to make this crisis any worse.

Thank you for your cooperation and for everything you

 

[jordyonbass]

Folks, we are all devastated by what is happening in NSW right now, however we do have a policy regarding no fundraising on PS.

We can leave the general links to big organizations, but please do not link to personal go fund me’s or other personal fundraising efforts as unfortunately sometimes people do use these crises as an opportunity for scamming and we do not need to make this crisis any worse.

Thank you for your cooperation and for everything you

Sorry @Ella I did not mean to make it seem that way with anything I have posted and tried to specifically avoid that initially.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to a few PS'ers that reached out to me privately to help with our mission, from the start it was always going to be self-funded for anything we couldn't get locally. The fact they wanted to help directly means so much, I've been touched by the generosity of everyone here in this crisis.

 

[Arkteia]

Hi,

have been watching the news. It seems to be a disastrous year for the inhabitants of Australia, people and animals, and the rain is not coming yet.
For NSW, we have donated to the firefighters.

How To Help Australia Wildfire Victims As The Blazes Continue To Burn

As we come off the high of the holidays here in the U.S., thousands of people and animals in Australia are struggling to stay safe amidst one of the worst wildfires the continent has experienced in decades. Lethal wildfires in Australia have been…

www.bustle.com

Also, I saw a joking Reddit post made by a guy whose GF “adopted” a koala and was devastated that the animal was not coming - she expected it to be Fedexed to TX, I guess. There were kind comments with links to the program to “adopt” an animal from AU.

You can simply donate $55.00 and get a picture. Or, you can donate for someone else - I did, for people who I know and who have kids, and they will get a picture and a toy. I decided that this year, I shall not bring souvenirs from my trip to Moscow but rather donate in people’s names and they will get toys and the feeling that it helped a good cause.

We found the link by googling “how do we adopt a kangaroo from Australia”, it brought us straight there (it is world wildlife fund).

Aistralia has lost 1/3 of its coalas population and many other unique animals in the blazes.

@jordyonbass, I see posts asking for regular stuff - respirators, etc. I used to ship these things to California but is there a need for something shipped as things are burning out? I usually do it via Amazon (btw, Amazon should lower the cost for shipments for such disasters, they never do!), but what do people need that is not in AU anymore (burned out)?

 

[jordyonbass]

@jordyonbass, I see posts asking for regular stuff - respirators, etc. I used to ship these things to California but is there a need for something shipped as things are burning out? I usually do it via Amazon (btw, Amazon should lower the cost for shipments for such disasters, they never do!), but what do people need that is not in AU anymore (burned out)?

It's a local supply and logistics issue, rather than a scarcity issue. For example, the respirator masks are next to impossible to find in fire ravaged areas right now but I found a supplier with over 200 more down here in Melbourne where there is no fires. Plus the logistics side for those areas is difficult with so many people and resources already doing so much, it could take weeks before they get any relief.
That's why we are doing the trip on Saturday; down here in Melbourne we've got what they need up in Numeralla, however they can't leave town to come get it. So if they can't come to the mountain of supplies then we're going to take the mountain of supplies to them and help out around town for a few hours before we all rush out of there and head straight for home and safety.

 

[Ella]

Sorry @Ella I did not mean to make it seem that way with anything I have posted and tried to specifically avoid that initially.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to a few PS'ers that reached out to me privately to help with our mission, from the start it was always going to be self-funded for anything we couldn't get locally. The fact they wanted to help directly means so much, I've been touched by the generosity of everyone here in this crisis.

No worries Jordy, we just mostly wanted to avoid new people coming out of the woodwork to ask for money or directing money away from legit charities.

Since this isn’t fundraising for a specific charity, but instead giving general ideas about how people can help, we can leave the thread.

 

[D2B]

Thank you Jordy and everyone else who has contributed and is thinking of Australia at the moment. It is so heartening to see the good come out in people from donations, to food relief to small groups sewing and knitting pouches for injured wildlife and so on.

Jordy I think we may have one or more PS'ser in melbourne and I usually also go there fairly regularly ,so when this is over lets do a shout out and see where we all are and what the best place is to meet for those who wish to.- and yes I do know the streets you speak of - as a Pricesoper how could you not remember diamond drive

 

[jordyonbass]

Thank you Jordy and everyone else who has contributed and is thinking of Australia at the moment. It is so heartening to see the good come out in people from donations, to food relief to small groups sewing and knitting pouches for injured wildlife and so on.

Jordy I think we may have one or more PS'ser in melbourne and I usually also go there fairly regularly ,so when this is over lets do a shout out and see where we all are and what the best place is to meet for those who wish to.- and yes I do know the streets you speak of - as a Pricesoper how could you not remember diamond drive

I think that we may have to arrange the inaugural Aussie PS'ER GTG in Melbourne after all the fires have calmed down, we can then show each other all our cool jewellery and stones (I'm a bit boring though, all I've got is tray after tray of Opals )

 

[mrs-b]

I’m waiting for the animal rescue to set up a go fund me or something for international people. So far they have only given a bank account where you can make deposits

@whitewave -

This is an excellent organization setting up drinking stations for wild native animals, which will be of all sorts of use going forward. Their plan was to set up one permanent drinking trough, but the overwhelming response has enabled them to plan for many troughs plus permanent water trucks to keep the troughs full.

Water for wild animals is an ongoing problem in Australia (I, my parents and my grandparents grew up and lived in the Blue Mountains - Australia's most well known National Park and a world heritage listed site. The Blue Mountains have a history of being affected by bush fires about every 7 years; I've been through this, for instance, about 3 times and once they got close enough to burn down my back fence) - but never like this. Nothing like this. Before moving to England and then to the US, I used to live in an area that was the site of one of Australia's larger wild koala polulations, and every time there were fires, we'd see those numbers drop. What's happened now in Port Macquarie - which was the site for one of Australia's most genetically diverse koala groups - is a massive insult to this precious animal, which has suffered from a smaller and smaller genetic pool due to the spread of urbanization. Roads etc have cut off the koala's ability to travel and has led to a range of problems due to inbreeding. The colony at Port Macquarie was unique for its absence of inbreeding problems, its genetic diversity, and the overall health of its animals. it's imperative that this area be rehabilitated.

So...if koalas are your thing - try this group.

Help Thirsty Koalas Devastated by Recent Fires, organized by Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has been overwhelmed by th… Port Macquarie Koala Hospital needs your support for Help Thirsty Koalas Devastated by Recent Fires

www.gofundme.com

 

[jordyonbass]

@mrs-b seeing what has happened with the Koalas has made me feel sick to my stomach. Koalas were already facing the issues you mentioned, and it's been estimated that they've just lost 1/3 of their population from the fires. The inbreeding issue is only going to escalate further from this

 

[mrs-b]

@mrs-b seeing what has happened with the Koalas has made me feel sick to my stomach. Koalas were already facing the issues you mentioned, and it's been estimated that they've just lost 1/3 of their population from the fires. The inbreeding issue is only going to escalate further from this

They're such a precious creature (they all are, but you know what I mean) - and this has just decimated their numbers. The in-breeding issue is almost impossible to address, but the group I linked to above is also buying land to try to establish a protected sanctuary. It's something, but it's dreadfully small compared to what's needed.

The Blue Mountains, as always, is being hit horribly hard. Altho I live in Boston, I also have a home in Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains. There's back-burning going on all around that area and the air quality is horrible. For people with asthma, this must be hell, so your masks are a fabulous contribution.

 

[JPie]

If anyone is looking for charitable organizations to donate to, but you're not sure where to start or what's legitimate, then I would recommend a quick Google search for lists published by mainstream media. Search "How to help [name of natural disaster]."

For example, the NY Times has a pretty comprehensive one: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/world/australia/help-australia-fires.html

From my observations, these are pretty well vetted, especially a few days after the start of a natural disaster. By then, major cases of fraud have usually been sussed out.

 

[whitewave]

@whitewave -

This is an excellent organization setting up drinking stations for wild native animals, which will be of all sorts of use going forward. Their plan was to set up one permanent drinking trough, but the overwhelming response has enabled them to plan for many troughs plus permanent water trucks to keep the troughs full.

Water for wild animals is an ongoing problem in Australia (I, my parents and my grandparents grew up and lived in the Blue Mountains - Australia's most well known National Park and a world heritage listed site. The Blue Mountains have a history of being affected by bush fires about every 7 years; I've been through this, for instance, about 3 times and once they got close enough to burn down my back fence) - but never like this. Nothing like this. Before moving to England and then to the US, I used to live in an area that was the site of one of Australia's larger wild koala polulations, and every time there were fires, we'd see those numbers drop. What's happened now in Port Macquarie - which was the site for one of Australia's most genetically diverse koala groups - is a massive insult to this precious animal, which has suffered from a smaller and smaller genetic pool due to the spread of urbanization. Roads etc have cut off the koala's ability to travel and has led to a range of problems due to inbreeding. The colony at Port Macquarie was unique for its absence of inbreeding problems, its genetic diversity, and the overall health of its animals. it's imperative that this area be rehabilitated.

So...if koalas are your thing - try this group.

Help Thirsty Koalas Devastated by Recent Fires, organized by Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has been overwhelmed by th… Port Macquarie Koala Hospital needs your support for Help Thirsty Koalas Devastated by Recent Fires

www.gofundme.com

Thank you!!!

 

[jordyonbass]

UPDATE

Images received from my contact up at Numeralla, it's been ferocious but they've had relief with some rain. We're now taking a 200 mile detour via Canberra into the disaster zone with two checkpoints to reach before going our escort takes us into the town. Nerves are now increasing, if that highway gets closed off from fires then the entire SE of NSW is isolated by fires. They're defending it as hard as they can.