GAP SA and Little Heroes Announce New Partnership
Greyhound Racing South Australia (GRSA) today announced an innovative partnership with the Little Heroes Foundation (LHF) launching a significant fundraising initiative to raise much needed funds for essential equipment and services for children battling serious illness.
The 12 month partnership between the Greyhound Adoption Program SA (GAP) and Little Heroes Foundation will see members of the LHF community become foster carers to help former racing greyhounds make the transition to life as a domestic pet whilst raising money for the Foundation.
As part of the exciting collaboration, GAP will donate $500 to Little Heroes Foundation for every green collar achieved by a foster carer associated with this partnership. That amount will be doubled if the application to foster care is received prior to December 31, 2018. GAP will also donate $10,000 to LHF if its foster carers can achieve 50 green collars before December 31, 2019, and an additional $25,000 if the LHF foster care network can achieve 100 green collars in the same period.
The CEO of Greyhound Racing SA, Mr Matt Corby, said “this is an exciting and progressive initiative with tangible benefits for us both. To work with such a worthwhile cause by harnessing the power of community means that we can expand our foster caring network and support sick children and their families through their fundraising efforts”.
The program will encourage members of the Little Heroes community through their website, Facebook, and database to become foster-carers for recently retired greyhounds. In approximately 6 weeks, the foster carer will help the greyhound make the transition to a more domesticated setting and life as a pet. The goal is to achieve their green collar accreditation, meaning they are ready to be adopted out to their new forever home.
Chris McDermott, the Chairman of LHF, has described the partnership as “having terrific benefits as part of our broader fund-raising efforts. I’m looking forward to our community getting behind such a positive initiative and really making a difference to our fundraising efforts. It’s a unique opportunity when someone can care for our kids by caring for animals.”
Little Heroes Foundation is a South Australian based not-for-profit organisation which raises funds to go towards essential equipment and services for children battling serious illness.
The Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP), an initiative of Greyhound Racing SA, is dedicated to finding homes for both retired and unraced greyhounds whilst also educating the public about the gentle nature of the breed. The greyhound racing industry in SA spends $1.5 million annually on greyhound rehoming initiatives.