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Ford, Geelong Football Club Donate Time and Football Boots to Great Cause (384)

Disadvantaged communities throughout Australia are the beneficiaries of some generous souls – as well as soles – from Geelong.

As part of not-for-profit organisation, Boots For All, the Geelong Football Club and Ford employees sorted, cleaned, inventoried and packed hundreds of football boots donated by the Geelong community to distribute to disadvantaged communities throughout Australia.

The quest for Boots For All is to break down barriers to sporting participation and strengthen communities by collecting and distributing quality, new and used sports equipment to vulnerable Australians.

The CEO for Boots For All, Joanne Rockwell, said the donation of football boots from the Geelong Football Club, and the efforts of the Ford volunteers, was greatly appreciated as it provided much-needed equipment for youngsters who may not have the means to purchase their own gear.

“Remote communities across Northern Australia will benefit from the sports equipment that was donated by the Geelong Football Club and prepared and packed by the Ford volunteers,” she said.

“There is a great need for quality, new and lightly-used footy gear up north as their footy season gets underway in the coming weeks.”

Geelong Football Club Corporate Partnerships Manager, Brenden Caligari, said the Geelong Cats were pleased to be able to partner with Ford and their staff to support the Boots For All initiative.

“The Ford Motor Company should be recognised for their generosity in allowing their salaried employees to collectively perform thousands of hours of community work during normal work time through their “Global Week of Caring” initiative,” he said.

“Whether it be cleaning hundreds of donated footy boots and sports equipment for organisations like Boots For All in Briar Hill, or undertaking maintenance and painting at the Salvation Army’s Northside Community Centre in Geelong, Ford’s Global Week of Caring makes a real difference to many not-for-profit organisations.”

Ford Australia President, Bob Graziano, said volunteering was a vital corporate activity throughout the company. “Ford employees understand and embrace our legacy of caring and giving back to each of our communities,” he said.

“Ford’s Global Week of Caring is in its ninth year and this year we had more than 13,000 Ford employees, retirees and dealers working on 310 community service projects in 26 countries. In Australia 134 Ford employees volunteered, which equates to 1020 hours of community service.”

In Asia Pacific, 5300 Ford volunteers participated in more than 80 projects in China, India, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and eight emerging markets, including Cambodia, Singapore, Laos, Guam, and Tahiti to support local schools and children, local communities and improve the environment.

For more information on the Boots For All organisation, go to: www.bootsforall.org.au