None Of The $52 Million Raised For Australian Bushfire Relief Has Gone To Charities Or Families In Need
None of the $52 million raised by comedian Celeste Barber’s Australian bushfires appeal has been spent on charities or families in need the Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday.
Barber’s online Facebook fundraiser attracted millions of donations last month from people all over the world, including many Maltese who donated to the cause.
However, none of those funds have actually been spent and charities might not even see a single penny of the $52 million raised due to New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) rules and regulations.
“As it stands, the RFS is the beneficiary and we can’t donate money people gave us to other charities,” said RFS spokesman Ben Shepherd.
RFS rules state that donations must be spent on firefighting equipment and training and efforts to unlock the $52 million is likely to be complex and expensive.
While many organisations in Malta decided to hold their own events to raise money for the Australian bush fire, including RE/MAX, Strictly RNB, What’s Cooking And Where It’s ATT to name a few, a lot of people chose to donate to the cause via Barber’s Facebook fundraiser in the hope that the money would be used to help bushfire victims and first responders.
However, when speaking to AAP yesterday, the RFS said that it isn’t confident that this is even possible due to legal reasons but that their “lawyers are working with Celeste’s lawyers to find a way this can be done.”
Tag someone who donated to Celeste Barber’s fundraiser
READ NEXT: LIVE BLOG: Former OPM Employees Neville Gafa And Josef Caruana Testify In Public Inquiry Into Daphne Caruana Galizia Murder
