Essendon's official partner Coles will donate $100 for every point scored, or $600 for every goal, during every round nine AFL match to support UNICEF Australia’s COVID-19 Crisis Appeal.
UNICEF Australia’s COVID-19 Crisis Appeal is raising much needed funds to procure Oxygen Generation Plants to be installed in hospitals to treat seriously ill patients, provide testing equipment in heavily impacted districts, and support the COVID-19 vaccine roll out.
Coles chief marketing officer Lisa Ronson said Coles is committed to providing assistance at this critical time.
“The scenes we have all witnessed from India and increasingly across the South Asia region have reminded us all how devastating this pandemic can be,” Ronson said.
“At Coles, we are passionate about supporting the community and our team. Coles is a proudly diverse company, and this includes many thousands of team members of Indian heritage. We know that many of our team members have family in India and this will be a particularly distressing time.
“We are proud to be providing support through our partnership with the AFL, so we can give all the fans an extra reason to cheer for every point scored during round nine.”
In welcoming the support of Coles, UNICEF Australia CEO Tony Stuart said he was encouraged and grateful to see a leader such as Coles coming to the aid of the most vulnerable people in our region.
“From the early days of this pandemic, supermarkets have shown great capacity to prioritise the health and needs of their communities, customers and staff, so it is only natural that Coles would now step up and show that same leadership and creativity in supporting communities in this time of crisis," he said.
"We know this pandemic has the most devastating impacts on the most vulnerable and we are proud to accept Coles assistance to provide vital equipment that will help save lives.
“During the first wave of the virus in India, children and families saw the collapse of their livelihoods with hundreds of millions of children pushed further into poverty, losing their education, facing heightened risk of abuse and experiencing the devastation of seeing caregivers fall ill or die. The situation now is unprecedented, and UNICEF is on the ground providing urgent support.
“UNICEF has been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic, in India and across the world and as the world’s largest children’s charity we know the devastating and life-long consequences this emergency will have, in particular, on children and young people.
“We thank Coles for acting now, this pandemic isn’t over until it’s over for everyone and it is leadership like this which will help beat Covid for everyone.”
Bombers fans can find more information and make their own donations here.
