Now in its fifth year, Blooms The Chemist’s Charity Golf Day has brought together more than 125 corporate sponsors and ambassadors to participate in golf and a variety of other activities to raise funds for its charity partner, Make-A-Wish Australia.
“It’s an honour to be here today to raise these important funds for Make-A-Wish Australia,” Blooms The Chemist’s CEO, Emmanuel Vavoulas said at the event.
“With the generous support and fundraising efforts of those here today, we will hit our $50,000 target for Make-A-Wish Australia, which will assist the charity in being able to continue granting the wishes of sick children, like Alec, across the country.
“Blooms The Chemist is a long-time partner of Make-A-Wish and everyone in the business is touched and proud to play their part to ensure as many children’s wishes as possible can be granted,” he said.
Shining the spotlight
As part of the day’s activities, which included Longest (Marshmallow) Drive, Nearest to the Pin and the Straightest Drive, one brave young boy, Alec, who was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma at 8 years old, was able to share his story together with his father, Peter, highlighting the important work of Make-A-Wish Australia.
“Alec had every challenge imaginable, and as a parent, the wish was just a wonderful thing,” said Peter.
“When Alec’s life was bleak, he had something great to look forward to by knowing his wish was about to come true [through Make-A-Wish Australia].
“As the wish approached, he was taking a little longer to get to sleep at night and waking up a little bit earlier.
“We will forever be grateful that Alec, and our family, have that memory, which brought so much happiness in what was a very challenging time,” he said.
Better together
Make-A-Wish Australia’s Head of Partnerships, Rhiahne Ralph, emphasised the importance of partners like Blooms The Chemist to ensure the charity continues its important work.
“Make-A-Wish Australia is reliant on donations and funding from our corporate partners and the broader Australian community,” she said.
“Without these fundraising efforts, we would not have been able to grant the wishes of Alec, and more than 830 other sick children, over the 12-month period between 2020-2021.
“We cannot thank enough Blooms The Chemist and all the corporate sponsors and ambassadors who attended today for the wonderful work they do to support us.”
The other corporate sponsors who made the day possible include:
- Symbion (major sponsor)
- Stirling Fildes (major sponsor)
- Caruso’s Natural Health (19th hole sponsor)
- Bellrock Broking (ball sponsor)
- Reckitt (branded attire sponsor)
- Access Projects (Longest (marshmallow) Drive)
- iNova Pharmaceuticals (Straightest Drive)
- Aretex (Nearest to pin)
- AFT Pharmaceuticals (refreshment cart).
The inaugural Blooms The Chemist Charity Golf Day was held in 2017, the initiative of Andrew Yap (Pharmacist-owner Blooms The Chemist Surry Hills) and CEO Emmanuel Vavoulas when he was a Pharmacist-owner in the network.
Since the Make-A-Wish Australia partnership began in 2016, Blooms The Chemist has raised more than $1.3 million from many initiatives across its pharmacy network, Business Support Office, and through the kind contributions of its local communities across the country.
