DEAKIN WEST, Australia - The Eros Association, Australia's adult-industry trade association, is asking members to donate to a special relief fund that will benefit the victims of the bushfires that have devastated the area of Victoria north and west of Melbourne.
The fires, which authorities are investigating as arson, ravaged thousands of acres, leveled homes, forests and farmland, and killed more than 200 people over the weekend in what is being called the worst fire disaster in Australia's history.
"We are seeking donations from the Australian adult industry for the victims of the Victorian bushfires," Eros Association Membership Manager Rebecca Lanning said in an impassioned email plea. "Eros will be making a donation to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal this Friday - the 13th of February - and we are asking our members to contribute. It does not need to be a huge amount; every little bit will help. If you can afford to give $100 from your adult business, we urge you to do so.
"Eros members have always shown us they have a generous nature," she added.
Lanning said donations from adult businesses in other countries would be welcomed gratefully, as well.
The email plea was delivered to AVN at 9 p.m. PT on Monday. Lanning said she was floored by the immediate response in Australia.
"I have to say that our members are some of the most generous people I have ever met," she told AVN. "After sending out my original email asking for donations, I have been flooded with replies either donating, or telling us that they have already donated directly to the Red Cross - in some cases thousands of dollars."
The Victoria fire emergency is only the latest in a tradition of fundraising for Eros and its members. The organization has sponsored benefits for the Humane Society; End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography & Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPACT), and the Indonesian Tsunami Appeal campaign in 2004.
"The adult industry has also generously donated money to members of its own industry," Lanning told AVN. "For example, in August 2008 employee Kirsten Pye was brutally stabbed in a robbery on a Brisbane adult store. She died in hospital, and immediately a call was put out to all Eros members to donate money to a fund that we could give to her partner. More than $5,000 was raised and given to Kirsten's girlfriend."
Eros' contributions aren't always graciously received. Lanning said the organization and its members attempted to donate $25,000 to World Vision in the wake of the Indonesian tsunami, but the religious organization refused to accept the money.
"We made a bit of a fuss in the media about this, saying it was discriminatory, etc., but they simply would not accept our donation," she told AVN. "Eventually the money was given to Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders). MSF accepted the money, but later a memo was received from their international board saying that they would not accept money from the adult industry. Eros has been in negotiations with them about this and this is still ongoing."
Lanning said all the money Eros raises for the Victoria bushfire relief effort will be donated to the Red Cross, and she did not see that organization turning away the funds.
"We are hoping that they will not have any similar ‘problems' with the origins of the donation," she told AVN. "The Red Cross does have some discriminatory practices, such as refusing to accept blood donations from sex workers, but we are hopeful that in such a time of crisis, common sense will prevail and they will accept all offers of help."
Lanning also was quick to point out that the adult industry is generous even when not prompted by its trade associations.
"People from all over the industry are contributing generously to all sorts of aid organizations all the time," she told AVN. "The Alpha Girls started in 2004 and is a group of businesswomen from the adult industry who meet regularly to lunch, network and raise money for prostate cancer research. We like to give something back to the men we love and who support our industry. It's also way of recognizing these businesswomen, the work they do and the fabulous and positive impact they have on the industry."
Donations for the Victoria bushfire relief effort may be made by direct deposit into an account the Eros Association has established for the purpose. Banking details, as well as information about how to contribute in other ways, are available upon request by emailing Lanning or by calling her at 02 6285 2477.
For more information, visit the association's website at Eros.org.au.
