Humanitarian aid agency RedR Australia is hoping to paint the country red in February with its Wear Red for RedR Day fundraiser.
IPWEA is calling on its members to support RedR Australia by donning red on Friday, 5 February. The only limit is your imagination – dye your hair, don red hats, ties, crimson dresses or even scarlet suspenders. Get your organisation, school, work colleagues, sporting team, social group or friends involved, and make sure you take a photo and tweet #WearRedForRedR.
Money raised will be used to support the organisation's vital work in international disaster zones.
Acting as a Standby Partner to the United Nations and other frontline relief agencies, RedR mobilises skilled people, including engineers, when humanitarian crises hit. The group also provides internationally recognised training courses to prepare aid workers.
RedR Australia was established in 1992 by engineer Jeff Dobell, who called on his peers to apply their skills to disaster relief. The IPWEA was one of four founding bodies of RedR Australia, and continues to provide both financial and practical support.
RedR Australia currently has 28 people deployed in 15 countries, alleviating suffering in disaster zones. This year, people have been deployed to the Europe refugee crisis in Syria. This group includes IPWEA member, Victor Tapia, who spent more than 30 years working with Sydney Water before joining our register of experts.
A civil engineer, Tapia is currently working with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, site planning a transit camp for refugees arriving on the Greek island of Samos.
People have also been sent to Vanuatu and Ethiopia to respond to the drought effects of El Nino.
If Friday, 5 February doesn’t suit your office, RedR Australia encourages you to hold your event any day in February.
In 2015, Wear Red for RedR Day raised enough to send 118 experts to 35 countries to provide humanitarian relief. The group is hoping to make 2016 a record fundraising event and raise more than $25,000.
Register on the RedR Australia website so your supporters can make online donations to your campaign and you can track your fundraising efforts in real time.
To find out more about how you can get involved with, or support RedR Australia, visit www.redr.org.au.
For more information on the work RedR Australia is involved in, read about engineer Martin O'Malley's RedR Australia deployment in earthquake-stricken Nepal, and take a look at the organisation's annual report.
Image: IPWEA member and RedR Australia volunteer Victor Tapia inspecting cabins used to house refugees in a transit camp on Samos Island in Greece.