The Port Adelaide Football Club and Foodbank are honoured to announce the line-up of corporate supporters behind their ground-breaking Power to End Hunger campaign.
Together, they have delivered an enormous boost to the fight against hunger and the rising issue of food insecurity in South Australia.
We are pleased to welcome BENDIGO BANK, IGA and LIFESTYLE SA as the inaugural principal partners in the Power to End Hunger initiative which was launched at the beginning of the 2012 AFL Season.
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The program is further underpinned by the generous support partners ENVESTRA, FOODLAND, IMX RESOURCES, TRANSFIELD SERVICES, WALKER CORPORATION, THE ADVERTISER and the AFL.
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The partners will be recognised at Saturday night’s clash between Port Adelaide and Carlton at AAMI Stadium, as the Power and Foodbank use the high profile fixture to celebrate their unique partnership.
Port Adelaide chief executive officer Keith Thomas thanked all of the partners for their significant financial commitment to the cause of ending hunger.
“All of our partners have shown courage, commitment and vision in becoming the first to embrace what we know will be a highly effective campaign that will make a massive difference to the lives of hungry people,” Mr Thomas said.
“They are all highly respected and recognised companies that deserve to be congratulated for seeing how a partnership between corporate Australia, a community-focused club like Port Adelaide and a fantastic organisation like Foodbank can tackle a problem that is growing by the day.”
Foodbank chief executive officer Richard Pagliaro said the financial support would allow the organisation to take a major leap in its attempts to keep up with rising demand among needy South Australians.
“Ending hunger will take an all of community effort and these companies have demonstrated their commitment to that by recognising the solution Foodbank delivers by providing food to 130,000 South Australians a year through 600 charities and welfare organisations,” Mr Pagliaro said.
“We are overwhelmed by their generosity and their belief in the mission that we are all committed to. They have helped to fulfil a true partnership that brings together our individual strengths into a combined force that will be very powerful.”
State Manager Bendigo Bank SA/NT Craig Ralston said the cause of fighting hunger is a critical one, but not as well recognised as some of the more mainstream food and dietary issues in our community.”
“For us, the choice to partner with the End Hunger campaign was an easy one,” Mr Ralston said.
“One of the key aspects of our business model is to provide relevant, sustainable benefits in the communities in which we operate. This clearly aligns with the End Hunger cause.
“There are kids in our neighbourhoods - lots of them - who go to school without breakfast or any lunch to eat. This is a tragic issue that could be avoided.
“We hope that our principal partnership with the Power to End Hunger campaign will help make a huge difference to hunger and nutrition issues that SA communities face every day.”
Metcash Food & Grocery, the owners of the IGA supermarket brand, say they are delighted to partner with Foodbank and the Port Adelaide Football Club in their quest to End Hunger.
Richard Hinson, acting general manager of Metcash Food & Grocery SA, stated: "In a country as lucky as ours, it is a disgrace that children still go to school hungry and that many families simply cannot afford to buy the basic essentials, such as food.
“We hope that our partnership will highlight this problem and encourage as many people as possible to dig deep and donate to assist Foodbank in our State.”
Chief financial officer of the Pickard Group - co-owner of Lifestyle SA - Brett Graham said the organisation was honoured to be a part of a South Australian solution to ending hunger.
“Lifestyle SA is a South Australian company focused on the people and interests of our State and we are proud to be partners with other local organisations in the Power to End Hunger and its focus on local needs,” Mr Graham said.
“We believe our lifestyle villages for retirees are very much for the community of South Australia and we are honoured to be involved in partnerships that make life better for everyone in that community.”
Among the first initiatives backed by the partners is the “Can of Opportunity” fundraiser being launched at tonight’s game.
Supporters will be invited to donate their spare change in a bid to fill empty cans of “Opportunity” with money that will go entirely to Foodbank.
In addition to those carried by volunteer collectors, hundreds of cans will be given away to members and supporters who are asked to return them to any Power home game through the remainder of 2012.
The cans also will be placed in all IGA and Foodland supermarkets and Bendigo Bank branches until the end of June.
The principal and support partners will be involved in various other initiatives aligned to the Power to End Hunger mission, and will receive relevant recognition and benefits through the partnership.
