IRIS Bushfire Fundraiser

[Smudge]

For those who don't know, the State of Victoria in Australia has seen the worst bushfires in history this weekend after reaching temperatures of high as 47.9C (119F). As a result over 750 homes have been destroyed and entire towns wiped off the map in a matter of minutes. The current death toll is at 108, with officials expecting it to rise as emergency personnel are able to get access to more fire affected homes and areas.

We (Myself and Karen) live northeast of Melbourne, and not to far away from where the fires are affecting. One area is only a 10 minute drive away, and those fires can move extremely fast given the right (or wrong) wind conditions. Many unfortunate souls were lost simply trying to outrun the fires with whole families lost in the blink of an eye.

Rather than going into detail on the event in this post, one of our national news websites has an article relating to the bushfires for those wanting more detailed information.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/744864/at-least-93-dead-in-victorian-bushfires
(Please be warned, that some of the stories contained in that link may be distressing for some readers.)

Given the immediate needs of those affected, Karen, myself and our family will be donating food, clothing and other much needed supplies for the victims of this tragic event, plus some bacon and eggs for the volunteer firefighters who have been active non-stop over the weekend!

What we are pledging to do from the business side of things, is that ALL profits from sales generated this week from the IRIS store will be donated to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal to aid in the reconstruction and provide support, goods and services to those in need.
(http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm)

The reason this only applies to the sales from the IRIS store is very simple. Our vendors, such as FSPilotshop, Simmarket etc pay on a monthly basis, and to be frank, the people in need cannot in many cases afford to wait. Our payments received from sales to the IRIS store only take around 48 hours from YOUR purchase to our accounts. In some cases, funds can be received next day. This allows us to donate much quicker and help far more effectively.

We will provide a running total on the IRIS Forums of the amount raised in AUD (Australian Dollars) so that you can be kept fully abreast of the fundraising efforts and in addition, I will be placing a pre-pay edition of the IRIS Vulcan on the store for those who have purchased everything else from us and wish to help out.

For those wanting to donate, but don't want to purchase a product, the Australian Red Cross website has a secure online donation form to use, the link is below.
(https://www.redcross.org.au/Donations/onlineDonations.asp)

Alternatively, if you are having trouble accessing the Australian Red Cross donations form, you can pay via paypal to 'accounts@irissimulations.com' ensuring you state in your payment notes 'IRIS Bushfire Fundraiser' so that we are aware the payment is a donation for us to forward on.

The IRIS Store is located at www.irissimulations.com/catalog/ (http://www.irissimulations.com/catalog/)

I thank you for taking the time to read this post, and hope that many of you can help where possible.

Kind Regards
David, Karen & the IRIS Team

[EgoR64]

Hi Smudge,

I donate every year to the Red Cross, I will be donating to this as well, Very Sad, Me heart goes out to those effected !! :engel016:

[Smudge]

Me too, it was 84 dead when I went to bed last night, and 108 this morning when I woke up.. I'm just sitting here feeling mentally drained. Donating the profits from the store was the only thing I could think of to do, and even that just doesn't seem to cut it.. I suppose every little helps though.

I'm off to Safeway to pick up food supplies, baby stuff and other things people might need and donating it to the local Salvation Army store. Karen's parents are grabbing old clothes etc. Most places around here are coordinating the collection of goods and clothing.

I find it absolutely awe-inspiring that in the face of such tragic circumstances, people really do band together to help each other out.

[Marlin]

May God bless everyone that is in need of help.

Amen

[b52bob]

My thoughts are with you also. I went through the fire in San Diego in 2007 and I know how devastating it is and how hard it is to recover.
Our prayers are with everone affected.

Bob

[shackleton_boy]

Can the mods please make this a sticky?