Variety SA Thanks Hotels For Their Support

The AHA|SA proudly supported the SA Variety Bash in August. In total, the Bash raised $1.9m for kids in need.

“We were $40,000 short of raising $2 million this year. It’s just an incredible effort.

“We’ll be the highest fundraising total from Variety anywhere in Australia,” said Variety SA CEO, Mark McGill.

Pubs with Heart is an AHA|SA initiative in conjunction with the Independent Gaming Corporation. Its goal is to identify opportunities to make positive changes within the community via special grants.

Mark said the beauty of Variety’s partnership with SA hotels is his organisation’s ability to return sponsorship monies through its close relationship with pubs.

This includes holding events such as quiz nights and its famous motoring event, the Variety Bash.

“The money is going directly back into the community and often in rural and regional areas,” he said.

“The other thing is that the Bash is held in the middle of winter so the multiplication factor in terms of value is pretty significant.

“If you look at the Renmark Hotel where we launched this year’s event, there were 350 people in the hotel on the Friday night before we took off.

“So you can imagine the investment that was spent in one night in one hotel.

“The accommodation in all the hotels throughout Renmark was sold out.

“We got up in the morning and there were 350 breakfasts with an egg and bacon roll to get us away.

“And places like Peterborough, Port Augusta, Clare - they are all regional rural areas where the hotel provides the lunch, the dinner, the breakfast, the accommodation, the key point where everyone can chat about the day.

“It’s very much a natural fit. From a partnership perspective, it really works because we have the capacity to return the favour through our natural course of business with the member.”

AHA | SA SUPPORT WELCOMED

Despite the unbridled enthusiasm of so many, Mark said the Bash wouldn’t have the impact it does without its support partner and sponsors.

“They contribute to and maximise the fundraising because they pick up the hard costs of putting on such a big event.

“AHA Pubs with Heart sits at the top of the tree of that dozen corporate supporter base.

“This allows 100 per cent of the fundraising from entrants to go to the final tally, which is really important.

“When you give a donation to a team, you want to know that 100 per cent of those funds go to kids in need and that’s exactly what happens.”

Mark’s pride in how Variety delivers every dollar where it is needed most is clearly evident.

Mark said the funds raised made an enormous difference to 88,000 children last year.

“Each child has their own story.

“The really impactful stories are about children who have had their capacity for potential inhibited.

“They are kids who can’t attend sport because they don’t have the financial support which we give them. There are kids who don’t have the capacity for technology which then inhibits their ability to learn which inhibits their future, which we support them with.

“We’ve got children who have been bullied or are victims of domestic violence.

“There’s no one story per se, there’s 88,000 stories. They’re all very different but they are all very powerful. And the one common thread is that they all change lives.

“And if you look at children who get the opportunity, they thrive and that is what the great reward is for our donors and supporters.

“They are given opportunities that other children take for granted –breakfast, a holiday, access to a safe and secure home.

“When you actually meet the child, the parent, the grandparent, teacher, the frontline worker who is supporting these children, it is super rewarding.”