Carlton has presented a cheque for $5000 to the Make a Difference Foundation as part of the AFL Players Care initiative.
MAD Foundation ambassadors Chris and Sean Lynch dropped into Visy Park, where Blues skipper Marc Murphy presented the cheque on behalf of the Carlton playing group.
Sean – who was born with brain damage and is unable to walk, read or write – thanked the Carlton players for their support and generosity. “This money will go a long way. Thank you,” he said.
Chris Lynch said ”the MAD Foundation support children and their families, linked in with the Royal Children’s Hospital, and they help kids that have got special needs with equipment and other services that are available”.
Murphy said the Blues players were rapt to support an organisation “that does a lot of great work in the community”.
“They direct the money straight to beneficiaries, which is great, so there’s no fees of admin, which is really important as well,” Murphy said.
Earlier this year the AFL Players’ Association and its members unveiled the Players Care initiative, which allows more than $435,000 of AFL players’ match payments to be donated to charities around Australia each year.
The program was launched after the players collectively voted, at the end of 2014, to increase their match payment charity contributions from $25 to $50 per player, per game. Since 2008, every AFL-listed player has donated $25 of his match payment to the AFL Players’ official charity partner, Ladder, to help tackle youth homelessness.
But as AFL Players’ CEO Paul Marsh explained, “AFL Players Care now provides the players with an opportunity to support causes they hold close to them”.
“AFL Players have a unique opportunity to influence change in our community and it’s outstanding that the players have decided of their own accord to donate $50 per player, per game they play, to charitable causes.”
To find out more about AFL Players Care, click HERE
More than half of the 18 AFL clubs have distributed AFL Players Care funds, with several others expected to announce their preferred causes in coming weeks.
AFL Players Care Update
Adelaide – $10,000 to CanTeen
Brisbane Lions – TBA
Carlton – $5000 to the MAD Foundation and TBA
Collingwood – $5000 to Will Murray (Olli E Foundation) and TBA
Essendon – $5000 Cure for MND and TBA
Fremantle – $10000 to Lord Mayors Distress Relief Fund for bushfire relief
Geelong – $5000 to Camp Quality and $5000 to Cyber Cats
Gold Coast – $5000 to Gold Coast Community Fund and TBA
GWS – $5000 to White Ribbon and TBA
Hawthorn – TBA
Melbourne – TBA
North Melbourne – $5000 to Good Friday Appeal and TBA
Port Adelaide – TBA
Richmond – TBA
St Kilda – $5000 to Spirit Foundation and $5000 to Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision
Sydney – $5000 to Redkite and TBA
West Coast – $5000 to Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund and $5000 to Multiple Sclerosis Society of WA
Western Bulldogs – TBA