Apple Accepting Donations to Help Australian Bushfire Relief Efforts

Apple is now accepting donations from users to help Australian bushfire relief efforts. The company has updated its U.S. and Australian websites with a banner that visitors can click on to make donations, 100 percent of which go to directly to the aid agencies involved.

Depending on the device you're using to access Apple's website, clicking on the banner launches the Music app or the iTunes Store where you can select how much money to donate from a series of pre-defined amounts. The U.S. site offers six buttons ranging from $5 to $200.

Donations made via the U.S. site go to the American Red Cross, while donations made through the Australian site go directly to the Australian Red Cross. Visitors to the sites outside of their respective regions don't appear to be able to donate at this time.

The plea follows Apple's own donation pledge in late December to support fire fighting efforts in Australia. For several weeks now, bushfires have been burning across Australia due to one of the worst droughts in history and record-breaking heat waves.

At least 27 people have died and more than 800 homes have been destroyed. Wildlife has also been impacted by the ongoing fires – an estimated 25,000 koalas were killed when flames devastated Kangaroo Island last week.

Apple often provides donations during major disasters and most recently donated money to help fight the wildfires in California.