Model raises more than $750,000 for Aussie bushfire relief by sending nudes to donors
- Publish Date
- Tuesday, 7 January 2020, 11:11AM
An American model has raised more than NZ$750,000 for the Australian bushfire victims by promising to send nude selfies to those who donate.
Los Angeles woman Kaylen Ward decided to do what she could to help the relief efforts by encouraging followers to donate at least $10 in exchange for an X-rated image of herself.
"Every $10 you donate = one nude picture from me to your DM. You must send me confirmation that you donated," the 20-year-old wrote on Twitter.
Within minutes, her private messages on Instagram and Twitter were bombarded by hundreds of people sending in their receipts to prove they had donated.
Her post has received more than 123,000 likes, 56,000 retweets and thousands of comments.
Ward said she was motivated to use her following to contribute to the cause after photos surfaced of the catastrophic conditions.
"It's devastating and any normal person would be concerned and want to help," she said.
In her post, she asked followers to donate directly to a list of numerous charities including NSW Rural Fire Service, Victorian Country Fire Service, Red Cross and certain koala hospitals across Australia.
Despite the enormous effort from Ward and her fans, the stunt has implications for her career as an Instagram model, with the company disabling her account for violating community guidelines.
"My IG [Instagram] got deleted, my family disowned me, and the guy I like won't talk to me all because of that tweet," she posted on Sunday.
"But f**k it, save the koalas."
"Guys I am crying, this is f***king crazy".
Thousands of people flocked to praise the model for using her profile to help fundraise for the relief fund.
One person said Ward was "literally doing more for Australia than their own prime minister".
Another said: "Not all heroes wear capes, some wear nothing at all."
This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission
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