WESTERN Football graduate and now star Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter plus Bathurst 1000 victor Scott McLaughlin have joined the host of Australian sporting stars to join fundraising efforts for bushfire victims.
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Communities across Australia have been devastated by the catastrophic bushfires, with lives and hundreds of homes lost.
In the Western region where Carpenter, a Cowra native, spent the early years of her footballing career the Jenolan Caves precinct is amongst the areas to suffer damage.
As such, Carpenter has pledged her support to the Australian Red Cross bushfire appeal.
She will donate $5 for every pass she makes in Thursday night's W-League match where she and her Melbourne CIty FC team-mates will take on Canberra United. Carpenter's side will be chasing their seventh consecutive win in that fixture.
"During this truly devastating time for our beautiful country, we can all help out in any way we can! In this week's game on Thursday night I'll donate $5 for every pass I make to @redcrossau," she posted on Twitter.
Carpenter, who made her 50th W-League appearance in a 1-0 win over Perth Glory prior to Christmas, is known for her high work rate, so her pass count is likely to be high.
In that game against Perth she had 92 touches of the ball, of which more than 50 percent were passes.
She averages 49.3 passes per match and has made a total of 328 this season.
As well as Carpenter's individual pledge, Football FFA announced on Sunday that it will dedicate rounds 14 and 15 of the A-League and rounds nine and 10 of the W-League to raise funds for those impacted by bushfires and drought.
While McLaughlin is a New Zealand native, the Supercars star who won his maiden Bathurst 1000 last October spends plenty of time in Australia each year.
He too wanted to help those impacted by the bushfires and decided to auction one of his 2017 race helmets.
"The last few days, it's been absolutely devastating seeing the way these fires have ripped through parts of Australia, people's homes, animal's homes, some of the pics are so so sad," McLaughlin posted on social media on Sunday.
READ MORE: Live blog: Australian bushfires latest news
"I've been trying to think of what I could do to help in a little way for my two favoured charities, the Australian Red Cross and WIRES.
"So here is what I've done. I have put my 2017 race helmet up for sale, I get two helmets a year. One goes to Roger Penske and one I keep for myself every year.
"My 2018 championship one is not with me any more as that was prior arrangement I had for many years to the person who now has that. My 2019 helmet is now with my Dad in New Zealand as I promised him I would give him my first Bathurst-winning helmet.
"So it leaves me with the 2017 helmet."
McLaughlin will run the action for a week and will match the money raised with a personal donation. As of Monday morning the top bid was over $45,000 while Ryan Story from the star driver's DJR Team Penske outfit had donated a race suit for the auction too.
