Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis have become part of our world’s routine, affecting 160 million people each year. Here in the sunny state of Arizona, we are lucky that our worst natural occurrence is haboobs, a type of severe dust storm that sweeps the valley and wildfires that usually occur up north in Flagstaff. Although we have fires in Arizona, they are nothing like the ones in Australia. 

 This massive fire, caused by an extensive and heightening drought, which has swept through vast areas of Australia, has killed over one billion animals as well as twenty-four people. More than 15.6 million acres of land have been torched and more than 1,400 homes have been destroyed. Various animals have been directly harmed by the fires, such as kangaroos and koalas. 

Thousands of Australians are in crucial need of assistance as the massive wildfires continue to tear across the continent. Many celebrities have donated millions of dollars to large relief funds connected to the devastating Australia wildfires. Leonardo DiCaprio, who owns his own foundation, Earth Alliance, “A new philanthropic partnership dedicated to urgently addressing climate change and environmental threats to life on Earth,” has pledged three million dollars to funds helping Australia. These celebrities have donated to programs that fund evacuation centers and other programs such as firefighters and first responders. 

As a Xavier community, we strive to help others in need. If you are able, there are numerous organizations that are accepting donations. There are other small ways to help, for example, setting up GoFundme pages.  If you are in any way shape or form able to help and donate anything you can to Australia to help rekindle their beautiful continent.