Charities share $90,000 in first-ever round of grants from Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation 

27 October 2020

The Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation today celebrated a landmark occasion by announcing the nine Australian charities who will share in $90,000 as beneficiaries of its first-ever round of grants.

The announcement is the culmination of two years of preparatory work to establish the Foundation as a new force for good in Australia’s philanthropic landscape.

This first $90,000 round of grants was targeted specifically at charities hit hard by COVID-19, recognising how difficult fund-raising has been for those organisations during the pandemic. 

Applications for the inaugural round opened in June and attracted 86 applications. Following a comprehensive selection process that involved a committee of Heritage Bank staff, the Foundation is excited to announce that the nine grants of $10,000 have been awarded to the following beneficiaries:

• batyr – supporting preventative mental health programs for secondary school students 
• Blush Cancer Care – funding for breast care nurses in St Vincent’s and St Andrew’s hospitals in Toowoomba
• Bravehearts - funding their Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure education program for young kids in Western Sydney schools
• Gold Coast Hospital Foundation – support emergency accommodation for those who have a loved one in hospital
• Hummingbird House Foundation – Queensland’s only dedicated hospice to support terminally ill children
• The Shepherd Centre – funding Kidscape which is a play-based educational group program for deaf children and their families
• Wishlist – Sunshine Coast Health Foundation – providing essential packs filled with resources for children about to enter foster care on the Sunshine Coast
• Yalari –funding indigenous high school scholarships throughout Australia
• Youth Insearch Foundation – funding for youth intervention programs for at risk youth aged 14 to 20 in the Wide Bay Burnett region.

The Foundation’s Executive Officer Paul Olds thanked every charity who applied for the grant and commended them on the amazing support they provide to the community.  

“It was not an easy task to select the successful recipients, as we received applications from so many terrific charities,” Mr Olds said.  

“Heritage’s staff selection committee were awesome, they were extremely engaged and invested in the outcome to assist charities who focus on growing stronger communities.

“For our new charity partners, I know the $10,000 grant will provide a much needed financial boost.  I am also very excited to see what additional impact can be achieved by engaging with the Heritage Bank community over the next 12 months to help our charity partners achieve their objectives.

“Many of the partners selected provide support across multiple locations in the Heritage footprint.  This reach will give us an amazing opportunity to connect with and mobilise the Bank’s 300,000 members, 800 staff and 58 branches to support these critical causes.

“Heritage Bank has an amazing 145-year history of supporting the community.  The grants are the Foundation’s first steps towards fulfilling the Bank’s vision of being ‘Passionate about helping People’.”

Heritage Bank Chairman Mr Kerry Betros said awarding the first-ever round of grants from the Foundation was a momentous occasion. 

“Heritage Bank is proud of our long history of supporting those in need within our communities. We have established the Foundation as a way to magnify and build that contribution, to become a major force for good in society.

“We are absolutely thrilled that our vision for the Foundation has taken a massive step forward with the announcement of its inaugural grants.”

The Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation was established in 2018 with seed funding of $2 million from Heritage Bank.  The Charitable Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people in need throughout our community.  The Foundation’s philosophy is to provide support now whilst also building a strong corpus that will benefit and grow stronger communities well into the future.  The Foundation is confident this will be the first of many grants it provides to grow stronger communities.

Heritage Bank funds all operational costs of the Foundation, ensuring all donations received and investment income generated is applied to helping those in need, now and into the future.

Learn more about our Partners or find out how you can Support the Foundation today.