Kevin Hillier lauds streamlined westie charities
My late mother used to say “charity begins at home”, but these days charity is anywhere but home. It’s a multimillion- dollar industry. Celebrity charities have become the norm. But while they mean well, they don’t always deliver what they promise, as we have seen in recent times.
Next week, Les Twentyman will relaunch the 20th Man Fund as the Les Twentyman Foundation. Les has always been focused on helping people. Anyone who knows him is aware he will have to win Tattslotto to die a millionaire. Les is an old-fashioned western suburbs boy who would give you the shirt off his back because you needed it more.
He has always been aware that the money donated to his fund was for the people he was helping, not anyone else.
The EJ Whitten Foundation is another I have been involved with over the years. It has experienced a very public examination of the running of the Legends game in recent times. That examination has resulted in a new arrangement that will see a massive change in dollars coming back to the foundation for it disperse to the various organisations it supports.
Barry Besanko has taken on the role of foundation chief executive. Hearing him talk at a recent function confirmed for me the wisdom of the changes and direction in the organisation.
I am confident both of these charities are being run well and that two iconic western suburbs names are doing good things for our community. I would hate for anyone to trash the reputations of the Twentyman and Whitten names.
Weerama
A tip for the Weerama organisers: if you want to get support from the media and sponsors, give the generic group emails a miss. You are trying to rebuild an event and that needs people to get behind it, and that means personal engagement. This is especially important when you are competing for money and media space and when someone has already written a piece about the event. ■
If you have any news or events, let me know at kevin@howdypartnersmedia. com.au
