At Coles, we proudly support many community and charity partners across Australia through financial contributions, fundraising, food donations and disaster relief. In the 2019 financial year, we provided over $101 million in direct support with an additional $14 million contributed by customers, team members and suppliers.
For local partnerships or to find out how your local store can help, please download and complete the application form and return it to your local store manager.
At Coles, we are proud of our long-standing partnership with national food relief charity SecondBite. Thanks to this relationship, more than 780 Coles supermarkets across Australia donate surplus fresh food to around 1300 community food programs which provide meals to disadvantaged Australians.
Since the partnership began in 2011, we’ve donated the equivalent of more than 100 million meals. In addition to providing food donations, Coles also raises funds for SecondBite through the sale of $2 donation cards and reusable shopping bags. In the 2019 financial year alone, Coles and our customers raised over $2.8 million to help SecondBite provide nutritious food to people in need.
Redkite
Coles partners with kids cancer charity, Redkite, to help provide critical financial and emotional assistance for children with cancer and their families. Since 2013, Coles and our customers have raised more than $35 million for Redkite, which has enabled the charity to provide more than 179,000 occasions of essential financial and emotional support needed to keep families together and strong through cancer.
Guide Dogs Australia
Since 1982, Coles and our customers have raised more than $11 million for Guide Dogs Australia. These funds have been raised through a range of initiatives such as coin collection dogs at our supermarkets and the sale of specially marked reusable bags.
Thanks to our longstanding partnership, Guide Dogs Australia has been able to provide free and essential services for children, teenagers and adults with low vision or blindness.
Australian Red Cross
Coles has a long history of supporting the communities in which we operate by raising funds for disaster relief. Coles team members and customers support relief efforts by donating funds as well as essential supplies to communities in need. In 2020, together with our customers and team members, we have donated more than $3 million to the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund, in addition to our other efforts which you can read about here.
In 2019, Coles supported communities affected by natural disasters, such as floods and bushfires. In January and February, Coles raised a total of $322,893 for the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund from customer donations which were matched dollar for dollar.
Foodbank
For more than a decade, Coles has donated surplus non-perishable food to Foodbank to distribute to charities which are feeding vulnerable Australians. Foodbank collects the food from Coles’ distribution centres and then redistributes it to up to 2,400 community charity partners.
In FY19, Coles provided 11.3 million kilograms – the equivalent of two million meals - to Foodbank. During COVID-19, we also donated food and groceries to the value of $1 million a week to Foodbank and SecondBite to support people facing hardship.
FightMND
Together with our Aussie pork farmers, we’ve raised more than $800,000 to fight Motor Neurone Disease (MND) following national campaigns in 2018 and 2019. As part of our campaigns, Coles donated 10 cents from the sale of each pack of Own Brand fresh pork. For the first time this year, we will also sell FightMND beanies at our supermarkets to support the cause.
Statistics show that across Australia every day, an average of two people are diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and two people sadly die of the disease. FightMND raises awareness and funds for MND medical research to find effective treatments and a cure for the disease.
Curing Homesickness
Coles is proud to support children’s hospitals across Australia through the sale of Mum's Sause - a popular pasta sauce available in three varieties. Coles Mum's Sause is part of the Curing Homesickness fundraising initiative, which aims to get sick kids home from hospital sooner or make their hospital stay easier.
For every jar of Mum’s Sause sold, Coles donates 50 cents to a children's hospital in the state or territory where it was purchased. The funds raised help hospitals to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and technology, fund ground-breaking research, support programs and enhance hospital wards and rooms.
Curing Homesickness beneficiaries are: NSW: Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation ACT: Canberra Hospital Foundation QLD: The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation SA & NT: Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation TAS: Royal Hobart Hospital VIC: Monash Children’s Hospital WA: Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation
Coles is delighted to partner with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation (SAKGF), a not-for-profit charity that aims to deliver pleasurable food education to children around Australia through professional development, educational resources, support and inspiration for educators.
Established in 2001, the program is currently being delivered in over 2,000 schools and early years centres around the country. The program teaches students to grow fresh, seasonal produce and use it to prepare nutritious, delicious food. Coles looks forward to working with SAKGF to support educators, expand the Kitchen Garden Program and help more Aussie children live healthier, happier lives.
Clean Up Australia
Coles sells a range of reusable shopping bags designed by Australian school children. Ten per cent of the funds from sales of these community bags is directed to different charity partners including Clean Up Australia and other national partners like Little Athletics, SecondBite and Guide Dogs Australia.
The sales of these bags have allowed Clean Up to provide children’s gloves and compostable bags for schools, plus emergency clean up materials and first aid kits for communities nationally.
Little Athletics Australia & Athletics Australia
To support grassroots athletics across Australia, we have a three year partnership with Little Athletics Australia and Athletics Australia.
Since 2017, Coles has been providing support to athletics centres around the country to foster athletics in the community and help Australians to live happier, healthier lives.
To date we have donated over 3 million bananas to community athletics programs across the country and we’re delighted to have Olympic champion Sally Pearson and Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist Brandon Starc as ambassadors of our partnership.
Coles has also provided more than $1,167,575 in grants for new sports equipment to 316 Little Athletics centres across Australia. Click here to find out more about the Little Athletics Community Fund.
Collingwood Football Club Foundation
To help fight homelessness and support people facing disadvantage in Melbourne, Coles partners with the Collingwood Football Club’s Community Foundation.
As part of the partnership, we work with the foundation to increase the number of meals and accommodation and support services for homeless people in Melbourne.
Through the partnership, Coles also supports junior sports and women’s sport; education programs promoting equal opportunity; health and wellness and leadership; initiatives for people with disabilities; and Indigenous and multicultural programs.
Rowing Australia
As part of our strategic aim to help Australians to lead healthier, happier lives, Coles supports rowing through a sponsorship with Rowing Australia.
Coles helps power Australia’s most talented rowers by providing them with groceries at their National Training Centres in Canberra and Sydney.
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