FEATURE
THE CLUB AND THE COMMUNITY More than $1 million was raised for charity during last year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival, a new milestone in the Victoria Racing Club’s long and proud history of supporting the community. We partner with charities and organisations that share our values and conduct programs for the betterment of our community’s wellbeing.
P in & Win has been the VRC’s flagship charity endeavour since it was introduced in 1995 and for good reason – in that time, it has raised more than $7.4 million for charities through the sale of Lexus Melbourne Cup souvenir pins, helping to change lives and support the community. It has supported the establishment of the Guide Dog training facility in Melbourne, Starlight Express rooms for 16,000 sick children and families, the world-class trauma centre at the Alfred Hospital and provided over 1.5 million meals for those in need through SecondBite, amongst other achievements. Last year Pin & Win raised $493,000 for the club’s 2022-23 Pin & Win partner, the Australian Childhood Foundation, whose CEO Dr Joe Tucci said the 2022 Pin & Win campaign was one of the Foundation’s most successful fundraising events in its 35-year history. For the first time last year, the Melbourne Cup Carnival was responsible for raising more than $1 million for the community. Complementing Pin & Win, the Melbourne Cup Carnival partnered with not-for-profit donation platform GIVIT to raise funds to support people affected by devastating flooding across the country in late 2022, with more than $500,000 worth of donated funds raised for flood-affected communities across Australia. GIVIT CEO Sarah Tennant said the funds were used to provide critical support to people across Victoria and New South Wales.
Michelle Payne OAM is an ambassador for CARM, a charity supported by the VRC.
“GIVIT was able to provide a new car seat to a young family in Kialla who had recently arrived in Australia on protection visas and were severely impacted by floods. “These donations may seem simple but their impact on communities who have experienced a traumatic event can’t be underestimated.” On top of these significant amounts, Cup Week last year also saw $50,000 donated to The Griffith University Institute for Glycomics and the National Breast Cancer Foundation thanks to the Lexus Melbourne
“A family in Echuca including a child with an intellectual disability lost everything in this disaster when flood waters inundated their home,” said Sarah. “Thanks to these donations GIVIT was able to provide them with critical supplies such as grocery, fuel and clothes vouchers to assist them while they stay with friends and rebuild their lives. “A farming family in Whanregarwen who had been working 18 hours a day to fix their farm and home which were destroyed in these floods also received grocery and fuel vouchers to help them through their recovery.
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INSIDE HEADQUARTERS ISSUE 2 2023
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