The Rabbitohs Foundation was honoured to host its Major Donors at a VIP Donor Opening Night at the USANA Rabbitohs Centre at Heffron Park earlier this year.
The Rabbitohs Foundation was created to assist the Club with funding for three key pillars across Souths Cares and South Sydney Rabbitohs:
Souths Cares
Delivering transformational programs in support of our communities both close to home and far and wide – helping those in need within our communities for today and tomorrow;
Pathways
Supporting and securing future cohorts of Rabbitohs players to give them the best opportunity to reach their maximum potential; leading to a new generation of legends representing South Sydney and further premiership success;
Infrastructure
A new best-in-class facility that will provide our teams and community programs the optimum resources to further build on their success, taking them to a new level. It is a legacy facility for our team and community for years to come.
The Rabbitohs Foundation's first round of fun draising was to bridge a gap in the funding to build our new Community and High Performance facility at Heffron Park.
Through a number of successful opportunities given to donors, the Foundation reached and exceeded its fundraising target allowing the Club to build a world-class Community and High Performance Centre.
There were three major donations made, and donors were recognised for these contributions with the naming of key areas of the facility.
One of those was made by David and Judy Dinte, who made a significant donation cementing their ongoing support to both the Rabbitohs and Souths Cares over a number of years. In recognition of their donation, David and Judy have had the Theatre at the facility named in their honour with the David and Judy Dinte Theatre in perpetuity.
A large donation was also made to Souths Cares by Stan and Paula Sharkey. Stan and Paula have been huge supporters of Souths Cares and more broadly the community in the South Sydney District. A plaque can be found in our Souths Cares Classroom recognising the significant donation Stan and Paula made towards Souths Cares.
A significant donation was also made by philanthropist Max Whitby. Max has been a long-standing supporter of South Sydney and Souths Cares.
The Foundation also ran a successful Locker Program, giving donors the opportunity to donate to the Foundation which in recognition they would have their name allocated to a player’s locker in the inner sanctum of the Club. Our Locker Donors are:
Eddie Attard
Byron Beath
Mario Bernatovic
John Byrne
Brett Corrick
Ryan Cummings
Michael Curin
Tui Eruera
Vince Fayad
Sean Garlick
David Goo
Nick Hatzistergos
Laurie Macri
Alex Malley
Adam Matteson
Denis Morrissey
Michael Olsen
James Patterson
Gary Perlstein
Reg Richardson
Brad Ryder
John Saunders
Danny Taibel
Andrew Vouris
Zaki Wazir
We would like to thank all of our donors for their support.
There are still a limited number of lockers available, along with several other programs with which you can become involved.
If you would like to get involved or hear more about the Rabbitohs Foundation, please get in contact with Bryce Kellerman at [email protected]
