For more than three decades, Australian firefighters have posed for a charity calendar, and in recent years they’ve shared the frame with kittens, puppies, horses and koalas. The Australian Firefighters Calendar started in 1993 and has since donated more than $3.5 million to charities in Australia and abroad. The 2027 lineup comes in five editions: Dog, Cat, Horse, Mixed Animal and Hero. It’s also the calendar’s biggest worldwide release so far.
The animals are more than props. Every cat and kitten in the Cat edition is a rescue, and much of the money goes to community groups where the difference is easy to see. Wildcare Inc., which looks after sick, injured and orphaned wildlife in the Northern Territory, had no government funding when the calendar team first got in touch; with their backing, it has grown to 140 carers. Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital runs Matilda, a 22-wheel mobile clinic built after the 2019–2020 bushfires that has since treated thousands of native animals. This year also brings the project’s first partnership with a European sanctuary: L’Arca di Natalia, a volunteer-run refuge at the foot of Mount Etna in Sicily.
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