Cairns Airport’s charitable Christmas fund will expand this year to spread festive cheer across a wider variety of deserving community groups.
The ‘Cairns Airport Making Christmas a Little Brighter’ campaign launched last year with great success and will return in 2023 with an exciting update.
This year, grassroots sporting clubs will also be eligible for nomination, in addition to charities and not-for-profit organisations. Five groups will receive $5,000 each ahead of the Christmas period. Locals are being asked to nominate deserving organisations, via a simple online form, by Thursday December 14.
Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer Richard Barker said the initiative was being opened up to local sporting groups in 2023 to support their vital roles in the community.
“We all know anecdotally that grassroots sporting clubs are critical to the physical and social wellbeing of our community, but recent national research shows just how wide-reaching these benefits are,” he said.
“The Clearinghouse for Sport, the knowledge sharing platform for sport across Australia, lists improved mental health and resilience, social connectedness and positive roles models as just some of the outcomes from team-based community sport. For children, the research shows participation in local sporting clubs can lead to a stronger sense of community belonging, forming more close friendships, a greater desire to give back through volunteering and increased capacity for learning.”
“Cairns Airport is thrilled to expand our Christmas fund to include sporting groups along with our local highly deserving charities and not-for-profits. Our campaign is aimed at supporting smaller organisations who may not have the large marketing capacity to attract major donations. We believe this can make a real difference to their bottom line and enable them to extend their reach to more people in need.”
Each successful organisation will be handed a life-size cheque of $5,000 in the lead up to Christmas, delivered by a Cairns Airport representative and Santa himself. The competition is open to organisations across Cairns and the Far North, including the Innisfail and Atherton Tableland areas.
The winning recipients will be notified on Wednesday December 20, followed by a public announcement before Christmas.
Last year, recipients of Cairns Airport’s donation included:
- FNQ Foster Farms Inc, an animal welfare farm based at Lake Eacham
- ECHO Empowering Services, supporting disadvantaged, frail or distressed people to regain or maintain their dignity and independence
- Stay in the FIGHT, providing care packs filled with essentials to help Queensland children aged 11-17 who are diagnosed with cancer, and their families
- Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing sick and injured turtles, while protecting the Great Barrier Reef
- Kick on Charity, a local mental health charity contributing resources across the community
Follow the link on the Cairns Airport homepage to nominate a local charity or sporting group for the 2023 ‘Cairns Airport Making Christmas a Little Brighter’ campaign. Terms and conditions apply.