Lord Mayor’s Appeal raises $260,000 for East Africa food crisis

13 January 2012

Generous Sydneysiders have helped raise almost $260,000 for the Lord Mayor's East Africa Food Crisis Appeal.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore launched the appeal in November in response to the plight of more than 750,000 people from Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Dijbouti who are at risk of dying from starvation over the Christmas-New Year period.

And just six weeks later the fund has burst through to the quarter million mark.

"With our New Year's Eve charity partner, CARE Australia, we decided to take action on behalf of East Africa which is experiencing its worst drought and food crisis in six decades and has 13 million stricken people in urgent need," the Lord Mayor said.

"Women and girls are disproportionately affected by the drought, with 80 per cent of new arrivals at the world's largest refugee camp - Dadaab - being women and children without food, money or clothing.

"The City invest hundreds of millions of dollars to make Sydney one of the leading cities in the world. We are in a fortunate position and with that comes responsibility to help others who are not as fortunate.

"For an East African family, a donation of $91is enough to feed them for a week.

"People who attended Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations gave generously and we thank them for that."

CARE is the lead agency providing food and water in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya with more than 460,000 people in desperate need and more than 1,000 new refugees arriving each day.

CARE and more than 20 other aid agencies have predicted the current drought and refugee situation will soon reach breaking point.

The City of Sydney kick-started the appeal with a $100,000 donation and the Federal

Government matched every dollar donated before November 30. The total raised so far is around $259,162.

The Lord Mayor said the City has a proud history of providing humanitarian and emergency assistance in response to disasters both within Australia and overseas.

"Australians have always dug deep to help those in need and I urge all Sydneysiders to

do so now," the Lord Mayor said.

"All donations to the Lord Mayor's East Africa Food Crisis Appeal will go directly to CARE Australia and we have provided details of how people can donate on our website, in libraries and through our other community facilities."

All donations go to CARE Australia.

To donate to the Lord Mayor's East Africa Food Crisis Appeal, please:

1. Donate directly through the CARE Australia website: www.care.org.au/sydney

2. Donate by credit card by phoning the toll free number and quoting "Lord

Mayor's Appeal": 1800 422 422.

3. Donate through a cheque made out to "CARE Australia", with "Lord Mayor's

Appeal" written on the back and posted to:

CARE Australia

2nd Floor, Open Systems House

218 Northborne Avenue

Braddon ACT 2612

Media Contact:

For more information contact CoS media: Candace Sutton on 0467 810 160 or 9246

7371 or csutton@cityofsydney.nsw.au