By mid afternoon on Sunday the tally had reached more than $22m, around 48 hours after Barber launched the fundraiser on Facebook.
In regular updates on Instagram, she has spoken about family members caught up in the crisis in Eden, including her parents-in-law. She said her father-in-law was evacuated overnight.
World No.1 tennis player Ashleigh Barty on Sunday pledged to donate all of her Brisbane International prize money to the bushfire appeal. She is the top seed in the Brisbane event which starts on Monday, with the winner taking home $US250,000 ($A360,000).
After donating more than $30,000 late last year to the RSPCA to help wildlife affected by the national disaster, Barty said she wanted to dig deep again for families who have been left devastated by bushfires.
Barty joined a growing list of sports stars and organisations to lend their support with the NRL, Football Federation Australia, Netball Australia and two-time Dakar Rally winner Toby Price among those coming on board on Sunday.
Barty’s offer follows the lead of fellow Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios who sparked the massive fundraising effort.
Kyrgios’s social media call for a fundraiser resulted in Tennis Australia announcing a Rally for Relief exhibition match on Rod Laver Arena on 15 January, which is set to feature some of the world’s top players.
On Saturday the American singer Pink pledged $500,000 to Australian fire services and called on her followers to help by making a donation.
“I am totally devastated watching what is happening in Australia right now with the horrific bushfires,” she tweeted.
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