BEST WAYS TO LEND A HAND AS LONG RECOVERY BEGINS

MILLIONS of hectares of bush have been burned. Dozens of lives have been lost. Up to a billion mammals, birds, reptiles, bats, frogs and invertebrates may have died.

Smoke from Australia’s bushfires has reached as far as New Zealand and Chile.

Amid the tragedy, many of us are looking at how we can help. On the front lines, our volunteer firefighting services need donations, which will allow them not only to fight this year’s fires but also to be better prepared next season.

The Red Cross, Vinnies, the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, the Salvos, Foodbank and the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program are among those working with families that have lost their homes.

To help injured animals, and to provide sources of food and water to keep native animals alive, the World Wildlife Fund, WIRES, the RSPCA, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital and Adelaide Koala Rescue are among the bodies seeking donations.

At the same time, it is important to be on your guard against scammers.

If you are approached by a charity you don’t recognise, take a moment to check their credentials at acnc.gov.au.

If they don’t check out, they don’t deserve your cash.

A bit of homework will help ensure that what you are able to give will reach the people who need it most.

Cash is the most efficient way to assist, but it’s also possible to make in-kind donations.

The key thing to remember is that people in disaster-hit areas don’t need random shipments of bulky goods.

Givit.org.au operates as a matchmaking service, linking up donors offering, for instance, a laptop, with charities and needy families.

Another form of in-kind assistance is to open up your home to host someone displaced by the bushfires. If you have a spare bedroom or apartment that’s available for two days or more, Airbnb Open Homes lets you offer free temporary housing.

Recovery from disaster plays out on many fronts.

Emergency relief charities will be working with the tired and demoralised fire victims.

Our volunteering experts know that recovery works best when communities can be kept together and when those who have been hurt by the fires can share their stories. Alongside the ABC, community broadcasters have played a critical role in keeping endangered communities informed.

With luck, the intensity of this disaster will start to subside. At that point, we need to keep hearing from the people affected. We need to recognise what they have been through and assist in the recovery.

The aftermath is not just measured in lost lives, homes and photo albums. There is also the psychological aftermath.

In some cases, new social networks will form from the common bond of shared suffering. In other instances, old networks will need careful rebuilding.

Beyond the physical restoration and emotional recovery process, we all have a responsibility to inform ourselves of the risks for the future and how we collectively can reduce them.

Expert environmental advocates play a crucial role in highlighting the risks posed by climate change and how we can mitigate the risks to public health that come with higher temperatures and more volatile weather.

Australia has thousands of extraordinary charities doing fabulous work in affected communities. Like our heroic firefighters, they have many months of hard work ahead of them as we work together to extinguish the blazes and rebuild our communities.

By pitching in to support a worthy charity, you can make a real difference.

Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Minister for Charities.

Proceeds from every News Corp Australia metropolitan newspaper sold on January 21, and copies of The Weekly Times sold on January 22, plus the proceeds from advertisements booked in the papers on those days, will be donated directly to the bushfire appeals.