If you’re anything like me you’ve been reading about the awful fires raging in Australia with complete despair. In all honesty, I avoided it for the first few days, just not knowing what to do or say or where to put all of this emotion. It can be really hard to take in a crisis like this whoever you are, but being a highly sensitive person or someone with anxiety means it can have a tough effect on our mental wellbeing. This feeling was where I was at about an hour ago.
Tonight, a good friend of mine from my local zumba group started a small fundraiser, and it lead me down a different path. I decided to donate to a couple fundraisers that felt authentic and also gather information on all the action that was being taken around me to try to channel some of my energy and contribute. I don’t have 1,000,000 followers. But I do have a platform on which I can spread some good and just couldn’t rest tonight until I had written something. So for anyone who is looking for resources and places to contribute or get involved, below are some that have been in my immediate feeds over the last 24 hours.
Click on the link in her bio and donate $5 and she will send you a personalized pep video. This girl is a leader in the body positive movement in the UK, someone I follow daily.
“Right now I'm sending a personalised January pep talk video to anyone who donates £5 or more to the services helping with Australia's bushfire emergency - all the details are in my stories, including more information on what's currently happening, links to donate & how to get your video 💜”…”To anyone currently in Australia who's experiencing heightened anxiety because of what's happening right now, I'm thinking of you, take care of yourself however you can, hold tight. 💜💙💚🌈🌞”
This guy is my cousin and pledged to donate proceeds from his website sales in a 48 hour period towards the Australian fires (also check him out - he’s doing amazing things for mental health and fitness in the UK!)
“100% OF ALL SALES GOING TOWARDS THE WILDLIFE EMERGENCY RESCUE FUND. Help better yourself, and better those in need - knowing your money is also going to a massively worthwhile cause.”
He donated $1,000,000 to fire relief. Watch his pledge by clicking on his name.
My friend Cheyenne started her own fundraiser that surpassed her $200 goal in under an hour in our Madison community!
“Want to join me in supporting a good cause? I'm raising money for Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support. I've included information about Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors below.”
Together Rising, a community headed by the fantastic Glennon Doyle Melton, has raised a total of $335,000 to go help those on the ground in Australia so far.
“Important: We want your money to be on the ground to these helpers as soon as possible, so we will be sending the funds tomorrow. If you’d like to support, 100% of every dollar we receive for the remainder of the evening will go to increase these gifts to Australia.”
If you need a place to go to see humanity taking action, just one of these is that place. It’s not even scraping the surface, but it’s something. I’m sending all the good vibes I can muster overseas to our Australian family. We see you. We’re with you. We love you.
