Charity and community partners

SecondBite

At Coles, we are proud of our partnership with national food rescue charity SecondBite spanning more than 10 years. Through SecondBite, more than 800 Coles supermarkets and distribution centres across Australia donate edible, unsold food to around 1100 community food programs which provide meals and food hampers to disadvantaged Australians.

Since the partnership began in 2011, we’ve donated the equivalent of over 235 million meals to help feed people in need.

In addition to providing food donations, Coles also raises funds for SecondBite from initiatives such as the Coles SecondBite Winter Appeal and Coles SecondBite Christmas Appeal.

Across all activities in the 2023 financial year, Coles Group raised and donated more than $7.1 million for SecondBite.

As part of the SecondBite Christmas Appeal, Coles supermarkets and Coles Liquor stores (Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars) nationally will be raising funds for SecondBite.

From 15 November until 5 December 2023, Coles Liquor stores will be collecting donations at the checkout. From 29 November to 24 December 2023 customers can purchase a $2 donation card at the checkout of all Coles supermarkets. Customers can also make a donation at the supermarket checkout and on Coles Online with all proceeds donated to SecondBite. 

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Foodbank

For more than two decades, 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 approximately 2,950 agencies and community groups.

Since our partnership with Foodbank began, Coles has provided the equivalent of 37.7 million meals.

In addition to food donations, Coles also supports Foodbank with other projects such as providing fixtures and shop fittings for Foodbank Food Hubs in Adelaide and Alice Springs. 

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Australian Red Cross

Coles team members and customers support disaster relief efforts by donating funds as well as essential supplies to communities in need.

Funds raised by Coles and our customers make it possible for Red Cross emergency services teams to help people in distress during times of need. 

Together with its customers, Coles has raised more than $1.8 million for the Australian Red Cross QLD and NSW 2022 Floods Appeal to provide immediate and long-term support to communities affected by severe flooding. This is in addition to our other efforts which you can read about here.

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Redkite

Coles has partnered with national children’s cancer charity Redkite since 2013, with more than $50 million raised to date. 

Funds raised by Coles have also enabled Redkite to provide more than 375 Dare to Dream Scholarships of up to $5,000 to support young Australians affected by cancer to achieve their goals and ambitions.

In the 2023 financial year, the total amount raised for Redkite by Coles, our team members and customers was more than $3.8 million. 

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Guide Dogs Australia

Coles’ longest community partnership is with Guide Dogs Australia. Since 1982, Coles and our customers have raised more than $14 million for Guide Dogs Australia to help Australians with low vision or blindness to live a life without limits.

In the 2023 financial year, more than $861,000 was raised for Guide Dogs Australia through the Coin Collection Dogs placed in our supermarkets and liquor stores as well as through the sale of specially marked reusable shopping bags.

In addition to raising funds, Coles works closely with Guide Dogs Australia on customer accessibility initiatives to support people living with low vision or blindness.    

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FightMND

Together with our Aussie pork farmers, Coles has raised more than $30 million to fight Motor Neurone Disease (MND) since 2018.  This year, Coles with support from our customers and team members raised more than $8.6 million from the sale of FightMND beanies at Coles supermarkets and selected Coles Express stores, as well as sales of Coles Brand Australian Fresh pork products and Peters Icy Pole Lemonade 8-pack at Coles supermarkets and donations from Coles’ Aussie pork farmers and customers.

All funds raised at Coles will be directed to FightMND and support research and care initiatives for people with MND. 

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Hospitals United for Sick Kids

Since 2019, Coles has partnered with Hospitals United for Sick Kids, a national alliance of eight state-based hospitals for children, foundations and paediatric services, to raise funds that help sick kids on their journey home back to the things they miss. 

Money raised through specially marked Mum’s Sause products all year-round and the annual Hospitals United for Sick Kids $2 card appeal goes towards reducing the disruption being in hospital can have on children and their families. By investing in the latest research, therapies, programs and equipment to decrease the amount of time they are away from the everyday comforts of family, friends and home. 

With national reach, Hospitals United for Sick Kids drives local impact with funds raised redistributed to alliance partners across Australia: Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation and the John Hunter Children’s Hospital in New South Wales; the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Foundation in South Australia; the Canberra Hospital Foundation; the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation; The Common Good – an initiative of the Prince Charles Hospital Foundation in Queensland; Monash Children’s Hospital Foundation in Victoria; and the Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania.

In total, Coles and our customers have raised more than $6 million for Hospitals United for Sick Kids, with over $1.7 million raised in FY23.

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Movember

Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men's health on a global scale, focusing on mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. The charity raises funds to deliver innovative, breakthrough research and help men live happier, healthier and longer lives.

As a Major Partner of Movember, Coles and its customers helped raise $1.1 million in FY23 through the sale of men’s care products, moustache-shaped donuts across our supermarkets, and donations from team members and customers.

This November, the Coles team is going even bigger with donations on all Men’s Deodorant and Grooming products, selected MasterFoods sauces, purchases of selected Coles Burger Sauce and Coles 10pk BBQ Burger Patties in the same transaction, and the iconic Movember donuts in Coles supermarkets nationally. Customers can also donate at the checkout of Coles supermarkets and on Coles Online.

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Bravery Trust

Since 2014, Coles and our customers have raised more than $5.9 million for veterans’ support agency Bravery Trust. At Coles, we sincerely appreciate the service of current and former members of the Australian Defence Force and together with our customers, we want to remember and support service men and women who are facing hardship as a result of injuries or illness from their service.

Bravery Trust supports Australian veterans injured during service with medical fees, food vouchers, energy bills, education costs and financial counselling.

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Coles and AFL/AFLW Partnership

Coles is proud to be the Official Supermarket of the AFL and AFLW.

As the premier partner of the AFL, Coles is investing in both women’s and men’s football from grassroots local footy to the elite professional game, with the alignment of a healthy lifestyle at the heart of our partnership. 

Little Athletics Australia

Coles has been a proud partner of Little Athletics Australia since 2017, providing support to clubs and centres around the country to foster athletics in the community and to help Aussie kids to live healthier, happier lives.

Through the partnership, Coles supermarkets donate bananas to their local Little Athletics centre’s weekly sessions throughout the season and Coles Online delivers fresh bananas to regional and state events across the country. 

To date, Coles has donated more than 3.8 million bananas to community athletics programs across the country.

In addition to banana donations, Coles has provided more than $2.2 million in grants for new sports equipment to 456 Little Athletics centres across Australia from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund.

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Clean Up Australia

Since 2018, Coles has raised more than $1 million to support Clean Up Australia in its mission to clean up, fix up and conserve the environment. 

Funds raised from the sale of reusable community bags and Coles Liquor’s donation campaigns have enabled Clean Up Australia to provide free kits to assist volunteers to clean up their local communities. These kits include bags for general waste and recycling, protective gloves, a high-vis vest and sharps containers to keep volunteers safe.

In addition to fundraising, Coles team members and family members have taken part in Clean Up Australia Days and other initiatives to help remove rubbish in their local communities. 

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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, Coles supports the Foundation to provide meals and accommodation and support services for people affected by homelessness in Melbourne, as well as the Collingwood Football Club’s wheelchair football and Reclink community teams. 

In the 2022 financial year, Coles donated $25,000 to the Collingwood Football Club Foundation to purchase five sport wheelchairs for its wheelchair football teams.

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The Resilience Project 

Coles has partnered with The Resilience Project to provide 20 schools and around 3,000 students to help students build resilience and develop strategies to cope with the stresses of life both in and outside the classroom.

The Resilience Project focuses on Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness (GEM) as tools to help people experience positive emotions, and in turn, positive mental health and has been supporting 130,000 Coles team members across Australia for the past two years.

In the school programs, GEM is embedded in the community through engaging presentations to students, parents and carers, lesson plans, teacher resources and digital content.

The Coles partnership has a focus on delivering The Resilience Project in remote and regional schools, as well as schools with high Indigenous populations.

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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 1,600 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. 

Since the launch of the partnership with the SAKGF in 2020, Coles has donated more than $1.6 million and partnered with over 70 Coles supermarket stores with local Kitchen Garden Program schools to empower more young Australians to grow, harvest, prepare and share.

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Great Barrier Reef Foundation

At Coles we’re proud to partner with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. It’s the leading science-based foundation for the Reef and the largest of its kind in Australia. Its focus is to solve the most complex and challenging problems facing the Reef’s survival.

Our support will begin with helping to fund two pilot projects designed to unlock the Reef’s blue carbon potential, increase biodiversity, accelerate scientific research and support communities along the Reef.

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Planet Ark

Established in 1992, Planet Ark is one of Australia's most respected and trusted environmental organisations. Together, Planet Ark and Coles aim to co-create, innovate and implement environmental initiatives at scale.

Coles and Planet Ark entered into a three-year partnership in June 2023 in a collaboration which will help amplify Planet Ark’s positive environmental actions among Coles customers and around Australia. The partnership seeks to build a more sustainable future with the two organisations, working together on a range of waste reduction and recycling initiatives including Coles being a major sponsor of National Recycling Week and the Schools Recycle Right Challenge.

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