Coles announces more than $250 000 in sports equipment grants for 73 Little Athletics centres across Australia, just in time for the summer sports season.
This latest grant from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund takes total donations to over $2.2 million in the past four years and will help local centres buy new sports and safety equipment to support aspiring athletes and community volunteers.
The Coles Little Athletics Banana A-Peel held earlier this year saw 10 cents from every kilo of cavendish bananas sold at Coles donated to the cause.
“The past two seasons have been extremely testing for our clubs and centres who have battled numerous challenges such as COVID-19, floods and bushfires,” says Myles Foreman, CEO of Coles Little Athletics Australia.
“These natural disasters and the pandemic have not only impacted on Little Athletics centres’ ability to fundraise at a local level but it’s also had a huge impact on the morale of the centres,” says Foreman.
“The grants from this round of the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund will not only help centres buy new equipment but it will lift the spirits of their volunteers, athletes and families for the new season.”
Sally Fielke, General Manager of Corporate and Indigenous at Coles says she’s proud to support the community fund and banana donations to Little Athletics.
“We’re very aware of the challenges local Little Athletics centres have faced over the past two years and we’re proud to do our bit to help them to recover and grow so that kids and families can continue to enjoy Little Athletics each week,” she says.
Among the recipients is Maryborough Amateur Athletics Club in Queensland. Gavin Grantz, President of the club, says the grant will help rebuild after devastating floods earlier this year.
“The floods last season destroyed some of our equipment and it also damaged our buildings, grounds and canteen equipment, which means that our ability to fundraise this season will be severely impacted,” he says.
“The grant from Coles will allow volunteers to concentrate on training the athletes rather than constant fundraising as the club is still needing to pay for other repairs to the grounds.
“It will help us to buy a new trolley for our volunteers to move equipment safely and efficiently and the new hurdles and javelins will provide a more enjoyable experience for our athletes.”
In addition to monetary donations, Coles has donated more than 3.7 million bananas to Little Athletics centres since 2017, giving aspiring athletes the energy they need to go for gold.
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