Ellen DeGeneres has started a GoFundMe page to support relief efforts as fires continue to burn across Australia.
Making the announcement on today’s episode of The Ellen Show, the talk-show host started by describing how much the country means to her:
“I love Australia,” she told her audience. “I love Australia so much, I even married an Australian.”
Australia is in an emergency like nothing anyone on earth has seen before. Please help. Donate if you can. The loss of homes, and the lives of people and animals is catastrophic. https://t.co/vn6Qky3BbX pic.twitter.com/MeOZJDIsRX
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 7, 2020
The goal is to raise $5 million and stock photography company Shutterstock has kicked off the campaign with a $100,000 donation.
In just 6 hours, the GoFundMe page has reached over$225,000 with donations from over 2,000 Ellen fans.
According to the campaign page, all donations will go to the Australian Red Cross and WIRES Wildlife and Rescue.
Ellen has already made a donation of an undisclosed amount to these organisations directly:
It’s almost impossible to understand the size and destruction of the fires in Australia. Here are three organizations I’ve already donated to. I hope you’ll donate, too. @NSWRFS @RedCrossAU @WIRES_NSW
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 4, 2020