Honor Calum Hood’s Birthday This Year by Supporting The Wildlife Emergency Fund in Aid of the Australian Bushfires

5SOS’s Calum Hood is turning 24 this month and as fans, we often love to do something in honor of our faves birthday. This year, with the tragedy of the Australian Bushfires, we wanted to help raise awareness of the Wildlife Emergency Fund hosted by WIRES (Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service in New South Wales.)

We’re sure by now you’ve heard about the devastating Australian Bushfires. To give you just a rough idea, hundreds of fires over weeks have burnt over 4 million hectares of land in New South Wales alone. The deadly fires have been fueled from a mixture of extreme heat, a long drought, and strong winds. The country is amidst a heatwave with record-breaking temperatures over the last three months, with the hottest day in history in mid-December averaging at 41.9 degrees Celcius (107.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Many animals were already struggling with a lack of food and water due to the drought. Now, with the fires destroying unprecedented amounts of habitat, there has been a distinct increase in food shortages and lack of sustainable environment will become a compelling long-term challenge for the surviving wildlife.

Needless to say, it’s a pretty big issue.

If you were to name one of the character traits of Calum Hood, his love of animals is something we could all easily name, whether you became a fan within the first three days of 2020 or back in the early days of 5SOS. What’s more, we all know Calum is Australian and proud – much like his bandmates – so choosing this cause to fundraise for in honor of his special day is something we think makes a lot of sense.

According to WIRES, it’s impossible to know how many animals have perished and it will be many months before the impact on wild populations can be better understood but ecologists at Sydney University have estimated over 480 million animals have tragically died in Australia since September. 

Summer is a frantically busy time for wildlife rescue and there are still over 100 fires burning in NSW. In December alone there were over 20,000 calls to WIRES 1300 line, a 14% increase on last year, and volunteers attended over 3,300 rescue

The mission of WIRES is to actively rehabilitate and preserve Australian wildlife all while inspiring others to do the same.

In just December alone, WIRES 1300 line received over 20,000 calls and volunteers attended over 3,300 rescues. With species such as Koalas and Gray-headed Flying-foxes already on the list of vulnerable to extinction, the additional loss of life through emergencies such as this one along with heat stress events is even more devastating.

The WIRES Wildlife Emergency Fund’s website takes donations globally so the 5SOSFam from around the world has the chance to donate to such a crucial cause in honor of Calum’s birthday. If everyone who read this donated $1, imagine just how much we could raise and how much more help WIRES can offer to vulnerable wildlife during this devastating time. We just know this would get the Calum Hood approval!

You can donate to the WIRES Wildlife Emergency Fund here

If you’re still looking to do more to help in terms of the Australian Bushfires, here are some more worthy causes to consider:

• Australia’s Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund: helps to support evacuation centers and recovery programs for the communities affected
• The Country Fire Service in South Australia: supports the volunteer firefighters who are tackling the horrific tragedy
• The NSW Rural Fire Service: supports the firefighting efforts within New South Wales
• County Fire Service in Victoria: they do the same as above and also needs donations
• Foodbank: Donations will be given to the Foodbank NSW & ACT which helps get relief for communities cut off from power and food
• RSPCA New South Wales Bushfire Appeal: protecting pets, livestock and wildlife who are affected by the bushfires, helping to evacuate animals from disaster zones.
• For those of you in the US, you can contact your elected officials and make your voice heard about the climate change action here, with Australians being able to contact a member of Parliament here.

Will you be supporting WIRES in honor of Calum’s Birthday? Let us know if you do or of other worthy fundraisers by dropping a comment below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPOP

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Featured Image Source: Kaitlin Blaisdell