• by Sara
• on March 17, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Activism Instagram

Hello Izzy fans! We haven’t been able to find any new Isabel news/videos/photos lately, so we’ve taken her time off to get a small break ourselves. For those who don’t follow Isabel on Instagram, she has been very busy the last few weeks helping out in the flooded areas in Queensland and NSW. They’ve been hit with some catastrophic floods, which has resulted in many people losing their lives, their homes and all their possessions. Isabel has used her platform to encourage people to help if they’re able to, as well as to inform people in affected areas how they can seek help themselves. Several small organisations have been created to help those who are affected, and the community spirit shown through Isabel’s stories have been incredible.

I’m attaching an article from The Guardian which explains how you can help below, but if you would rather 1) help on the ground yourself, or 2) donate to smaller charities who show through their social media accounts exactly how your donations are spent, I recommend checking out Isabel’s pinned Instagram stories “floods”.

Isabel also seems to have adopted two dogs, and have encouraged others who are able to, to do the same. With the animal shelters being hit by the floods, there are unfortunately many animals without a safe home at the moment.

Is it better to donate to established charities such as the Red Cross or to crowdfunding campaigns? And should you give money, or goods?

More than $13m has been donated to support those affected by the devastating floods in Queensland and New South Wales, and most of the money has been directed towards peer-to-peer fundraising efforts such as GoFundMe. Many of those crowdfunding campaigns have been set up by people living in the flooded regions to cover urgent costs and fund relief and rescue efforts, including more than $20,000 raised to run a rescue helicopter.

Since 24 February, more than $9.6m has been donated across 1,700 fundraisers on the peer to peer platform GoFundMe. About 22% of all donations has been directed towards fundraisers based in the NSW northern rivers region. In Mullumbimby alone, 50 different campaigns have raised a total of $400,000.

One fundraiser, which aimed to deliver food to those affected by the floods across the region, raised $173,834 before turning off donations – far outstripping its fundraising goal of $5,000. But as the waters begin to subside and formal relief agencies move in to begin the long process of helping communities recover, those community-run efforts are being replaced by formal charities.

As of 9 March, the Red Cross Queensland and NSW flood appeal has raised $3.86m, and St Vincent de Paul has raised $162,000. The Salvation Army, which is aiming to raise $10m for flood relief, has repurposed $1m of funds from its Red Shield Appeal to begin initial recovery efforts.

So what should you do if you want to help? Read More