Sports stars align for fire relief
Shaun Johnson and Kayla Cullen were asked ‘What’s the go with wedding gifts?’
New Zealand sports stars Shaun Johnson and Kayla Cullen have used one of the most important days of their lives to raise money for victims of the Australian bush fires.
The Kiwis rugby league playmaker and Silver Fern tied the knot in December and donated the entirety of guests’ wishing well contributions to charity.
Donations have poured in from around the world as fires have ravaged Australia over the past few months, including in Facebook’s largest fundraiser ever with comedian Celeste Barber’s campaign drawing more than A$50 million ($52m) in just over a week.
Big names including Sir Elton
John, Chris Hemsworth, Pink, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, and Kylie Jenner have also donated to bush fire relief, with the biggest single donation coming from Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest with A$70m pledged.
Sports stars are also raising money auctioning off memorabilia including Australian cricketer Shane Warne whose baggy green cap went for more than $1m and tennis superstar
Serena Williams who is auctioning off her maroon match dress seen at Auckland’s ASB Classic.
As for Johnson and Cullen, they wanted to donate the gifts from their special day. Their wedding ceremony took place in Byron Bay, a region not directly affected by fires, but where smoke and haze were visible on the day.
“We were getting married so close to it all. At that stage there was fires burning around there — our venue was even covered in a bit of smoke so we were feeling it,” Johnson told Fox Sports.
“People were messaging us asking what’s the go with wedding gifts, so Kayla and I had a chat and figured we don’t need anything but it would be awesome if we could get everyone on board to contribute with what was going on.”
Johnson’s NRL club, the Cronulla Sharks, is also raising money, organising an auction of player memorabilia as well as getting involved in the clean-up of affected communities within the club’s catchment area. “The fact that we’re going to get an opportunity to go down to some communities that love their rugby league and love their Sharks is great.
“We’re not expecting to change lives — we can’t even fathom what they’re going through — but if we can just take their mind off it for a split second then it’s definitely worth the trip down.”
Australia was welcoming rain in some fire-ravaged areas of Victoria yesterday after a new mega-blaze formed in the Snowy Mountains on Australia’s New South Wales/Victoria border.
The 233,000ha Green Valley fire merged with the nearby East Ournie Creek blaze and the 312,000ha Dunns Rd fire on Friday evening.
And while rain fell in some areas, it brought warnings about the risk of flash flooding, too.
Thousands of people took to the streets — including about 10,000 in Melbourne — to protest inaction over climate change at rallies throughout Australia and overseas, and calling for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to resign.
Erin Kimsey, 20, held a placard that read, “We can’t breathe”.
She said her father was a volunteer firefighter and had been sent to the state’s east to help. “It’s shocking what’s happening and there’s not really any action on climate change.”
Maddie Chung, 21, said her family in rural Victoria were at risk from fires and might have to evacuate.
“This is a very real situation and we are calling for action,” she said.
“We are running out of time to act on climate,” said Anneke Demanuele, a convener of Uni Students for Climate Justice who joined the Melbourne protest.
● See World, p28, for latest on the Australian bush fires
Kayla and I had a chat and figured we don’t need anything but it would be awesome if we could get everyone on board to contribute.