Celeste Barber's fundraiser passes over $45 million for Australia bushfire crisis

Australian comedian Celeste Barber recently raised more than a sum of $45 million for New South Wales Rural fire service after setting a target of $50 million. According to reports, Barber received more than a million donations after she had started the fundraiser on Facebook on January 3.

Fundraiser for NSW Rural fire service

The 37-year-old wrote on the fundraising page that she is raising money for The Trustee for the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service & Brigades Donations Fund. People have responded really well to the comedian's fundraiser after she launched her fundraising campaign. According to reports, her husband also took to Instagram wherein he thanked everyone for their generous contributions.

Celeste Barber is not the only celebrity to pledge money for the bushfire crisis. American singer P!nk also pledged a sum of $500,000.

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'AO Rally for Relief' campaign

Australian Open also announced an "AO Rally for Relief" campaign to raise funds for the victims of the Australian bush fire. The initiatives include -Tennis Australia granting $1 million to assists communities repair and rebuild tennis facilities damaged or lost in the bushfires. Proceeds from a live stage concert with Jessica Mauboy on Sunday 19 January will be donated as well. The event is set to see more artists join the cause.

More than 1,000 tennis clubs across the country will be encouraged to support the relief efforts as part of the launch of Tennis Australia’s newest adult social play participation program, Open Court Sessions. An international campaign called viral Aces for Bushfire Relief to encourage people to score and ace and thus donate to the wildfire relief.

After Novak Djokovic agreed to Maria Sharapova's request to donate $17,400 (25,000 AUD) for Australia’s bushfire victims, other tennis stars including Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Rafael Nadal will also be making their contributions by playing an exhibition match ahead of the Australian Open. Tennis Australia last week announced a fundraising exhibition match at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena for January 15. The other players to play in the exhibition event are Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Nick Kyrgios, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

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(With inputs from agencies)