Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental organization will donate $3 million to help wildfire relief efforts in Australia.
DiCaprio’s Earth Alliance said Thursday in a statement that the organization started the Australia Wildfire Fund to help with an “international response to the catastrophic bushfires” currently raging in the country. The Academy Award-winning actor co-chairs Earth Alliance, which was launched last year to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. Businesswoman and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs and investor and philanthropist Brian Sheth also co-chair.
The wildfires have scorched an area twice the size of the state of Maryland. The blazes have killed 25 people and destroyed 2,000 homes to date. The fires, fueled by drought and the country’s hottest and driest year on record, have been raging since September, months earlier than is typical for Australia’s annual wildfire season.
The fund will work with local Australian partner organizations including Aussie Ark, Bush Heritage and Wires Wildlife Rescue.
DiCaprio joins a growing list of other celebrities that have rallied to donate big bucks. Chris Hemsworth and Elton John each offered $1 million through social media earlier this week, and Pink, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have donated as well.
Metallica said they will donation $750,000 to a firefighting agency and emergency services agency in Victoria, while Phoebe Waller-Bridge said Sunday she would auction off her Golden Globes outfit and have the proceeds go to firefighter relief.
