Ten highlights for ten years: Corporate Partners
2025-05-02
CEO Owen Finegan's next highlight for his ten year tenure discusses our incredible corporate partners.
I am very proud of the growth of our corporate partners, trusts and foundations and charity partners over the last decade. Sharing the story of our Founder, Col Reynolds, and the over 30-year journey of inspiration, passion and impact with corporate partners and seeing them join our Kids’ Cancer Project family has been a highlight of my journey.
Since starting in my role in 2015 we have been able to more than double our partners, supporters and corporate events to over $2.2 million. As a major component of our revenue this support by corporate Australia has allowed us to increase our commitment to research projects growing from fifteen project in 2015 to forty-six in 2025 and more recently a $7.6 million multiyear commitment to the twenty-four Col Reynolds Fellows due to the ongoing and future commitment that our partners have made.
The growth in our corporate support through donating services in kind, volunteering, work place giving, donations and support of matching donation campaigns, participation in The Kids’ Cancer Projects Better Challenge, golf days, long lunches, buying and supplying online and live auction items and fundraising events hosted by our corporate partners have all been a major driver in our ability to commit over $50 million in the last 10 years to support vital kids' cancer research.
One example of this support was funding in 2018 for a staff member from a Foundation for two years to support our Write a Book in a Day competition one of our flagship campaigns which continues to challenge writers across the country who each year produce a creative collection of books which are shared in an online library.
Two years of initial support for a Campaign Manager salary and oncost has seen this national writing competition move from 4,500 participants and $190,000 raised in 2017 when support started to currently 1937 teams and over 14,000 participants raising more than $930,000 in 2024. Support like this reminds me of the proverb "Give a person a fish, and you feed them for a day; teach them to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime.”
Over the past seven years, Smartways Logistics have been quietly delivering joy and happiness to kids at 33 hospitals across the eastern seaboard. By delivering The Kids’ Cancer Project’s bears completely free of charge the delivery team have not only brought smiles to thousands of sick kids, but they’ve also saved the charity an incredible amount of money approaching $400,000.
In 2025, Smartways announced that they will now deliver 100% of our bears to over 70 hospitals which will see them become Australia’s cuddle courier and allowing even more funds to go directly towards pioneering childhood cancer research.
I have also loved leading The Kids’ Cancer Project with passion and purpose and my sporting background has also played a pivotal role in creating what is now The Kids’ Cancer Projects premier annual event, Christmas for a Cure which originally evolved from the Sporting Heroes Lunch in September 2017 when we spearheaded the very first Sporting Heroes Lunch at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.
Aligning the event with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September we brought together 120 guests for an afternoon that combined meaningful fundraising for childhood cancer research with sporting star power with duel international Wendell Sailor, George Gregan, Matt Dunn and Sharnie Norder all supporting the cause. Future editions have seen many sporting so many stars donate their time for a great cause including Bronte Campbell, Bill Young, Michael O'Loughlin, David Giffin, Catherine Cox, Bradley Clyde, Mark Bosnich, Phil Kearns, Mike Whitney, Lauren Moore, Bryan Fletcher, Jane Flemming, Mark Matthews, John Eales, Maddy Proud, Casey Dellacqua, Joe Roff, Luke Ricketson, Justin Harrison, Briony Akle and Gorden Tallis, Kezie Apps and Paige Hadley all ensuring guests were both entertained and inspired.
I am proud that along with our team we have been able to shape our corporate event from the ground up I have been able to invite so many of these stars who have donated their time and event guests who have allowed us to invest millions of dollars into childhood cancer research while sharing the journey and impact that The Kids’ Cancer Project has achieved while shaping the event from the ground up and raising vital funds for childhood cancer research.
Originally, I served as the MC and took the mic as auctioneer and for the last three years we have welcomed new star power such as Roz Kelly and for the last two years the event has also welcomed Nine’s entertainment legend Richard Wilkins serving as MC and ably supported in 2024 by the amazing Molly Croft adding even more prestige and appeal. With Stuart Ritchie from McGrath taking over as the auctioneer this year and doing an amazing job I am happy in my role as a guest speaker trying to bring a personal and energetic touch that has hopefully become a trademark of the event’s success.
Over the last three years, the event has found a new home at the Royal Randwick Racecourse. In 2024, the event hit record numbers, welcoming 540 guests and raising an incredible $630,000, the largest fundraising total in its history. Now firmly positioned as a must-attend date in the calendar, Christmas for a Cure is more than a fundraiser, it’s a celebration of everything The Kids’ Cancer Project stands for showcasing our community and corporate partnerships and celebrating the groundbreaking and lifechanging research that we fund.
Yet, for many, the true heart of the event lies in the stories shared by The Kids’ Cancer Projects family ambassadors. Guests walk away not only having supported a cause but having been deeply moved by personal, powerful stories of hope, courage, and determination. We would love you to book in your next Christmas celebrations for a cause or one of our upcoming events through our Partnerships event calendar.
Corporate support is the lifeblood of many charities, and we would love you to reach out to the team at The Kids’ Cancer Project to see how you and your team can help support us in achieving our vision to see 100% of children, adolescents and young adults survive cancer and live with no long-term health implications caused by their treatment.
Help me in my quest to raise $100,000. That's $10 for each the 10,000 kids that have been diagnosed with cancer over my 10-year tenure.