For its first ever end of year campaign, The Honda Foundation called upon all its Honda vehicle owners and asked them to select the organisation of their preference –the Australian Childhood Foundation, Dementia Australia and Lifeline Australia –to donate $5 per organisation, or split the $5 across all three worthy organisations. The Australia Childhood Foundation protects, supports and heals children who have been effected by violence and abuse. The Australia Childhood Foundation protects, supports, and heals children who have been affected by violence and abuse. They aim to reduce the impact of these experiences by creating safe relationships and circles of care around children, including providing direct therapeutic support. In total, The Honda Foundation end of year campaign raised $32,655 to build their Little Hearts Healing Kit for children in need, providing special, personalised tools to help heal the little hearts of children who have experienced childhood trauma. In total, The Honda Foundation end of year campaign raised $32,655 to build their Little Hearts Healing Kit for children in need, providing special, personalised tools to help heal the little hearts of children who have experienced childhood trauma.
Thanks to The Honda Foundation’s generous support this Christmas, the Australian Childhood Foundation is able to help children recover from the devastating impacts of violence and abuse,” said Dr Joe Tucci, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Childhood Foundation.
“The collection of everyday items in a Little Hearts Healing Kit might look unremarkable, but with the help of our counsellors, it can do remarkable things. A Little Hearts Healing Kit can help a child feel comforted when they’re frightened or find connection when they’re alone. It can help them feel the joy of childhood, after losing their early years to trauma. “You donation has made an impact; the children we support have been given the gift of safety, security and love.”
Dementia is one of the most challenging and misunderstood conditions that impacts many Australians. Dementia Australia is the source of trusted information, education and services for the estimated half a million people living with this condition, and the almost 1.6 million people involved in their care. Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia. The Honda Foundation end of year campaign raised $33,315 for Dementia Australia to help fund their immersive Virtual Reality program EDIE, which provides training to caregivers and families of someone living with dementia.
“We are so grateful to The Honda Foundation for selecting Dementia Australia as a beneficiary of the funds raised through its Christmas campaign. Its generous donation of $33,315 will be used to purchase the equipment needed to run our EDIE education sessions in Queensland,” said Maree McCabe, CEO, Dementia Australia.
“This immersive workshop enables aged care workers and family carers to see the world through the eyes of a person living with dementia, by utilising high quality virtual reality technology. The eyes workshop enhances the participant’s knowledge of dementia, while exploring a supportive approach to living more confidently with it. “The wonderful contribution from The Honda Foundation will ensure more people caring for Australians living with dementia have access to this important educational experience, and help inform and improve the care they give. Thank you so much for your extraordinarily generous contribution.”
Lifeline Australia has seen record high demand for its services in 2020, with someone in crisis needing assistance every 30 seconds. With the increasing support needed by Australians across last year, The Honda Foundation raised $29,925 to upgrade and purchase more equipment for their crisis support centres, which enables trained, volunteer Crisis Supporters to be more equipped and supported to ensure more calls for help are answered and more lives are saved.
“Lifeline’s service is more important than ever, with the highest demand we have seen in our 58 year history,” said Martin Whelan, National Manager Operations. “Thanks to the generosity of The Honda Foundation, we are able to provide new essential equipment to support the delivery of our Lifeline Text & Voice crisis support service, enabling us to be there for more Australians in their darkest moments and save more lives.”
In total, close to $100,000 was donated to these three amazing Australian organisations with a major help from Honda vehicle owners. The Honda Foundation believes in the power of helping others and aims to assist Australian organisations that help communities and provide amazing programs and facilities for them. For every new Honda vehicle sold in Australia, the dealership donates $5 and Honda Australia donates $10, taking the total donation to $15.
“The first end of year campaign for The Honda Foundation was a huge success and it was fantastic to see so many Honda owners participate and click to donate $5 to these worthy organisations,” said Stephen Collins, Chairman of The Honda Foundation.
“The Australian Childhood Foundation, Dementia Australia and Lifeline Australia are all incredibly worthy national charities that help so many people through their programs. It was really important to The Honda Foundation that we partner with organisations who are providing such critical support to the community at a difficult time, so we were delighted to see how much money was raised for these organisation to continue their amazing work.”
Since 1992, more than $11 million has been donated to hundreds of worthy causes and local charities, so they can continue their good work and provide support and relief to people in need.