Yahoo Finance Coles triples customer bushfire donations to $1.5m
Supermarket giant Coles has announced that for every $1 donated to its Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund, it has donated $2 so far.
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That brings the funds raised to more than $1.5 million following $522,010 in customer donations.
“It’s been a devastating start to the year for families and communities across Australia affected by the bushfires,” Coles CEO Steven Cain said. “We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the people affected, including a number of our own Coles team members who have lost their homes. We thank our customers for their incredible generosity at this very difficult time.”
It comes after the supermarket donated $3 million in Coles vouchers to volunteer firefighters in December.
“As fires continue to burn across the country, tens of thousands of firefighters across Australia are volunteering their time to keep our communities safe. Some are based in fire-affected areas while others are travelling across borders and to other regions to help protect communities away from home,” Cain said at the time.
“With a long, hot summer ahead of us, we wanted to show our appreciation of the enormous contribution these firefighters have already made and will continue to make. We are so grateful for their bravery and commitment.”
It has also donated 37 pallets of food and essential items via Foodbank to evacuation centres in NSW, as well as trucking pallets to Mogo Zoo.
Woolworths has donated $1 million to the Salvation Army’s bushfire appeal among its overall $3 million donation, and sent 132 pallets of food and water to major evacuation centres.
More than 80 Aldi stores also signed on to participate in a food rescue program over Christmas to make sure that surplus food went to those in need over the Christmas period.
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