Media Centre

Update on our Bushfire Appeal

Publish Date: 25/03/2009
Author: Marketing & Communications Dept.

Thanks to your generous support, the bushfire emergency relief appeal that ran as a partnership between Baptcare and the Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV) has received a total of over $1.1 million. Over 2,500 donations were made to the appeal from across Australia. Some donations were also received from the UK and America!

The appeal has now closed. On behalf of Baptcare and the BUV, thank you for your support of this appeal.

Source of the donations

During the course of the appeal, Baptcare received donations from the Baptist community across Australia, Baptcare’s stakeholders and many individuals.

Some of the main sources of donations are below (note that this is a sample only).

Applications and distributions

The Appeal Committee (comprised of representatives from Baptcare and the BUV) continues to review and process applications to the appeal, and Baptcare continues to distribute the funds. We encourage all Baptist churches to continue to make applications on behalf of individuals in your local community who have been affected by the fires.

The fires have resulted in much suffering and distress. Baptcare and the BUV have welcomed the opportunity to provide a response to this tragedy, and thank all the churches for their part in either giving to the appeal, or making applications on behalf of their community.

Significant funds have already been distributed to those in crisis, however many of the affected individuals and communities require longer term responses to the devastation caused by the fires. We will continue to consult widely with affected communities to identify appropriate ways to apply funds to longer term community capacity building and to keep our donors informed of developments in this regard.

We will keep all supporters informed of the ways the funds are assisting the bushfire survivors on our website.