Food For Thought: Our house is on fire

#FoodForThought is a biweekly series serving up food for your brain, exploring news headlines, economic trends and workforce issues. As devastating bushfires continue to rage across Australia, we explore how the LinkedIn community can support small business and ask for your help. Subscribe and share your thoughts. 

Since September, Australia has experienced the worst bushfires in the country's history. As I write, here are the facts so far:

• 23 people have been killed, including three volunteer firefighters in the state of New South Wales
• An estimated 480 million animals have been killed in NSW since September 2019. One-third of the koala population is thought to have been wiped out.
• More than 7 million hectares (70,000 sq km or 17 million acres) have been burned in the fire. That's larger than the countries of Belgium and Haiti combined and six times the size of the 2019 Amazon fires.
• At least 1700 homes have been destroyed across the country

The devastation is unimaginable. But so too are some of the beautiful stories of community to have emerged from the destruction:

• Australian comedian Celeste Barber's bushfire appeal has raised more than $40 million via her Facebook fundraising page
• Big business is pulling together to establish a $25 million permanent trust for the children of firefighters killed protecting homes and communities
• General Pants CEO Sacha Laing said his company will donate a day’s takings this week to affected communities, mobilising other retailers to join the initiative. ? More on that here
• New Zealand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, France and the US are just some of the nations to offer support. Response from Canadians has been so strong that authorities have been forced to tell would-be volunteers they could not travel to Australia and fight fires themselves.

As the bushfires rage on, LinkedIn Editors are now considering how we can support small business rebuild and recover once the danger has passed.

A post I shared earlier this week received this message loud and clear: The LinkedIn community wants to know how, when and where it can spend its time and money in the bushfire-affected areas and help rebuild these regional economies and support the future talent and business pipeline.

But here's the thing: I need your help...

LinkedIn Editors want to shine a light on those small businesses and communities who will need our time and hard-earned money in the weeks and months to come — identifying those in need across a range of industries, the challenges they now face and what support the LinkedIn community can provide, from goods & services to simply making a pit-stop on your next holiday.

There's other big business themes at play here too: Crisis management, leading a depleted and vulnerable workforce, the donation economy and threats to industries such as tourism.

Here's what you can do:

Who are the individuals and small businesses you know doing it tough? Tag them in the comments or message me their details.

Are you a small business owner in a bushfire-affected region? How would you like to see your story shared? What are the themes we should be covering?

Are you an overseas ally? What is the information you're missing to help put into context the mass devastation being experienced? Perhaps you have an upcoming visit to Australia and want to know where you should be spending your time and money?

Share your suggestions in the comments