Comedy queen and newly crowned face of the fundraising effort born out of the bushfire crisis, Celeste Barber, has reportedly raised more than $50 million for the state’s Rural Fire Service through her Facebook crowdfunding campaign to help battle the ongoing blazes ravaging up and down New South Wales.
The public figure, famed for her witty and fun-poking Instagram profile, has rounded support for the bushfire effort around the globe. Galvanising donations through appealing to her 6.4 million strong following on the social site, as well as her 1.9 million Facebook followers, Celeste has raised one of the highest sums for the RFS seen throughout the devastating fire season, and as such has become the face for Australia’s fight around the world.
In light of her efforts to help raise money for the RFS and Australia, a mural thanking the star cropped up in Melbourne’s infamous Hozier Lane.
Celeste’s fundraiser has also been shared by other notable figures such as American actress Natalie Portman and singer Lizzo, who is currently touring the country amidst the crisis.
What’s more, the comedian will also be hosting the Fire Fight music event on February 16, which will see performances from international icons Queen and Adam Lambert, Alice Cooper, KD Lang, and Olivia Newton-John, as well as local Aussie artists such as Amy Shark, Conrad Sewell and Guy Sebastian.
Celeste is joined by many other international celebrities who have made sizeable generous donations to aid Australia as we battle the bushfire epidemic, with musical legend Elton John and home-grown Marvel hunk Chris Hemsworth both donating $1 million; and one of Australia’s favourite touring artists Pink, along with the Minogue sisters and Nicole and Keith Urban each donating $500,000. Comedian and daytime talkshow host Ellen Degeneres has also set up a fundraising campaign which has already raised over $1.5 million.
With this year’s devastating bushfire season long from over, it is important that we continue to rally together as we face one of the largest country-wide crisis our nation has ever faced.
If you’re wondering how you can do your part to help out, we have provided helpful links below.
If you would like to contribute to Celeste’s campaign, you can donate on her Facebook page via Paypal: https://www.facebook.com/officialcelestebarber/
You can also help by donating to the NSW Rural Fire Service, or to your local brigade: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brigade
While the generosity of food and clothing donations are much appreciated, officials in both NSW and Victoria have urged contributors to make monetary donations as evacuation centres are at supply capacity.