Two South Australian Charities Benefit From The Lott

The Lott surprised two South Australian charities with $50,000 donations just before Christmas. With an eye on health services, the Lott chose the Childhood Cancer Association and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Foundation for the holiday cheer.

The lottery organization that unites the official charities of Australia regularly contributes millions of dollars to charities. Some are individual donations to families or people in need, while others are dedicated to larger foundations that work for a cause or a larger goal with respect to health, research, education, and disaster relief.

Its total for the last fiscal year exceeded $1.4 billion.

Most Recent Surprise Donations

The Lott, through SA Lotteries, wanted to surprise the people who work for the Childhood Cancer Association (CCA) and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Foundation (WCHF) with holiday donations.

The Lott spokesperson Bronwyn Spencer said the reactions from the people in the rooms was “incredible.” She said it rewards the organizations for their hard work and care for South Australian families.

WCHF Head of Fundraising Corinne Habel said the monetary donation will help them upgrade the Home Equipment Centre. “There are so many children that want to get home from hospital as quickly as possible but require special equipment to make this happen. This will go a long way to helping children get back to their families sooner.”

CCA Chief Executive Cath O’Loughlin was also surprised and said it couldn’t be better timing, just before the Christmas holiday. “This donation will go a long way to provide essential services to families in need, right from their time of diagnosis. From there, we can tailor our support to meet the individual needs of each family throughout treatment and beyond.”

Workers from both charitable organizations were surprised and grateful.

Spencer said the Lott wanted to recognize their dedication and simply “wanted to do something to help them continue the wonderful work they do for others.”

Millions Turn to Billions

The most recent completed fiscal year for the Lott ended June 30, 2019. In the 12 months preceding that close date, the Lott revealed that it donated more than $1 billion to community initiatives. In fact, the number was closer to $1.4 billion.

For the calendar year of 2019, the Lott recently revealed some of the organizations and communities that benefited from its donations.

In the area of health and medical research, the Lott focuses on a variety of needs. Past donations were dedicated to building new hospitals and other forms of infrastructure. This year, the Lott went beyond to try to fund services and programs.

• Mater Foundation for fertility research and services
• Centre for Child and Adolescent Brain Cancer ($500,000) for treatment and survivorship
• Regional Hospitals Wishlist for medical equipment
• My Room Children’s Cancer Charity in Victoria
• Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation in New South Wales
• Queensland Children’s Hospital Foundation fundraising

Natural disasters are ones that catch people off guard but also need funding in the most desperate ways. The Lott focused on those disasters in 2019, such as the drought crisis and flooding rains.

• Queensland Flood Appeal ($500,000) to help families recover

Another focus for the Lott is education, focusing on communities that struggle to provide education and other essential needs for children. Some of the 2019 donations emerged from a partnership between the Lott and the Stars Foundation, which focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

• Stars Foundation for programs in the Northern Territory dedicated to women and girls
• Daniel Morcombe Foundation ($300,000) to educate children about personal safety

Recent Specific Donations

One recent example of a donation happened in November, when the Lott donated $10,000 to a man in Eden. He was recovering from meningococcal, a life-threatening disease. The paramedic underwent months of rehabilitation in a facility away from his family, and he faced another 18 months of it before he could return to work.

Earlier in November, the Lott donated $10,000 to a Toowoomba couple that experienced hardship. The young man was in an accident that resulted in a head injury and months in a coma. At the same time, his soon-to-be wife was pregnant with their second child. The Lott donated the money to help the couple plan the wedding they had been putting off in 2019.

October donations from the Lott included $10,000 sums to a Sunshine Coast family fighting childhood cancer, a Wingham farmer suffering hardship due to the drought, and a mother of four children with a host of medical issues.

Larger donations from the Lott happen regularly throughout the year as well.

For example, the Lott participated in the November 9 Telethon to raise money for the Golden Casket, an organization providing funding for Queensland parents, children with health issues, and costly medical emergencies involving children. The entire telethon raised more than $13 million, with the Lott donating $1.7 million specifically to the Children’s Hospital Foundation.