$100,000 Raised for Starlight Children's Foundation
The Reed Group, a leading privately owned construction company, has successfully raised $100,000 through its Try Scoring a Wish charitable campaign for Starlight Children's Foundation. The money will go towards granting the wishes of 20 seriously ill and hospitalised children throughout Australia.
The Reed Group are short sponsors of the Manly Sea Eagles, and throughout the 2007 premiership season as part of the "Try Scoring a Wish” campaign Reed have been donating money towards the Starlight Children's Foundation for every try that has been scored at Brookvale oval.
For each try scored, The Reed Group donated $1000 to Starlight. The $100,000 raised will go towards granting the wishes of 20 children to give their families much needed positive distraction from the circumstances surrounding them.
A cheque was handed over at the Sea Eagles training session on the 4th September, with executives from Reed Constructions and the Starlight Foundation present.
Manly Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler and star prop Brent Kite were also on hand for the presentation, which was the culmination of the efforts of the Sea Eagles and The Reed Group. Penny Waitsman, National Strategy Manager of Corporate Partnerships accepted the cheque on behalf of the Starlight Foundation.
"Starlight Children's Foundation is very grateful for the support of Reed Constructions, the Manly Sea Eagles and the community with the "Try Scoring a Wish” promotion. This was an amazing initiative to help raise funds for seriously ill children and their families and the fantastic result will have a real and tangible impact on the lives of those who need it most”.
"There are over 600,000 child admissions expected to Australian Hospitals in the next year however Starlight currently only reaches ‘1 in 3' of these children. Our goal is to give all these seriously ill and hospitalised children the opportunity to access and benefit from our programs and Reed's support is important in helping us to achieve this,” commented Jill Weekes, CEO, Starlight Children's Foundation.
Starlight's Wish granting program is just one of the many that restores the fun, laughter and joy that serious illness takes away. One such recipient is Tyran who has been involved in the Try Scoring a Wish project all season, appearing in a commercial for Reed with his hero Steve Menzies, Tyran was at the cheque handover where Tyran was told his wish, to go on holidays to Byron Bay would be granted – thanks to Reed.
Commenting on the campaign, Reed Group's Founder and Managing Director, Geoff Reed, said "Reed has been a strong supporter of Manly Sea Eagles for the last three years. We are pleased that we have been able to raise a considerable sum of money to grant the wishes of 20 seriously ill and hospitalised children through Starlight's Wish granting program. The campaign not only motivated the Manly Sea Eagles to score more tries but also inspired the community to donate towards this noble cause.
I would like to thank the players at Manly Sea Eagles, Steve ‘Blocker' Roach, 2GB, some of Reeds key sub-contractors and the community for their support in the fund raising activities”.
The "Try Scoring a Wish” campaign commenced at the Manly Sea Eagles' first home game at Brookvale Oval with two Starlight children on the field kicking a ball for $1000. To raise awareness for this cause, Manly Sea Eagles dedicated its game on 15 June 2007 at the Brookvale Oval to the Try Scoring a Wish initiative which helped raise funds from the community.