'SpendWithThem' Instagram Account Features Businesses Affected By Australia Fires

Want to help Australia with its bush fire crisis, but don’t know how? Check out the SpendWithThem Instagram account

We’ve all experienced this feeling in the last few weeks: We want to do something to help out amid Australia’s ongoing bush fire crisis, but we don’t know exactly how we can help. Feeling helpless in the face of a global tragedy like this one is common, and that’s why the SpendWithThem Instagram account was created.

@SpendWithThem connects shoppers all over the world with Australian businesses that have been affected by the fires, so while they’re displaced or rebuilding after tragedy, we can place orders that will help them stay afloat now or get back on their feet later.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7BEJZxhk03/

The account was inspired by a similar account that was created to highlight Australian businesses affected by drought last year. NSW South Coast locals Turia Pitt and Grace McBride started SpendWithThem to encourage people locally in Australia and all over the world to contribute to rebuilding Australia by spending money directly with the small businesses who will need the help to get back on their feet.

“Obviously our community has been so deeply affected by the fires over the last few weeks – physically, financially, emotionally and mentally,” Pitt said. “We wanted to do something right now that would make a difference to [these businesses] and would continue to support them for months, and hopefully years, to come.”

What’s really cool about the account is it doesn’t act as a middleman. It just shares the local Australian businesses who need help, as well as websites and social media accounts where you can place orders directly with those businesses. There are some really cool ones, too — handcrafted local jewelry, locally grown herbal tea, small-batch distilled gin, and a winery that heartbreakingly lost acres of vineyards in the fires just before Christmas. SpendWithThem is truly highlighting businesses that need help, and giving people all over the world a way to help them while knowing their dollars are doing something truly good.

Although the SpendWithThem account launched just a couple days ago, it already has nearly 150,000 followers. Business owners who have been featured on the account have written touching letters about the impact its had in helping them stay afloat as Australia continues to battle the fires.

In the coming weeks and months, the immediate crisis in Australia will fade away. But for the people and businesses there who have lost their homes and livelihoods, the hard times are just beginning. SpendWithThem is a great way to continue supporting Australians in need for as long as it takes them to rebuild.