As the swirling flames of brush fires continue to ravage Australia, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has committed $100,000 to provide resources to the land down under. Two grants of $50,000 each will be sent to New South Wales Rural Fire Services & Brigades and WIRES: The NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service.
Since the fire season began last year in July, 27 people have died, 2,000 homes have been destroyed, and ten million acres of land have been scorched.
“As witnessed in California, we know all too well the devastation wildfires can cause and it’s heartbreaking to see the impact on our friends in Australia,” said Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. “Buoyed by and on behalf of those onstage, backstage and in audiences in New York City and on the road, we are proud to support these two important organizations. While we may be 10,000 physical miles away, we hold all in Australia close to our hearts.”
NSW Rural Fire Services & Brigades supports the first responders on the ground in rural areas. Donations directly support their emergency efforts, as well as the needs of those communities left in the wake of the fires. WIRES is the largest wildlife organization in NSW and across Australia. The organization rescues and cares for as many sick, injured and orphaned wild and domestic animals as possible, as surviving animals face food and water shortages due to the destruction of their natural habitat and farms.
This isn’t the first natural disaster that Broadway Cares has contributed funds to, with the organization providing emergency grants in response to the 2019 and 2018 California wildfires, as well as the 2017 hurricanes in Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
