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Craig HillPonting Thanks Australia For $9.6 Million
February 12th 2009 07:28
Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has today thanked the general public and cricket’s commercial partners for their magnificent support of the Commonwealth Bank Series Bushfire Appeal.
The Commonwealth Bank Series Bushfire Appeal has so far raised more than $9.6 million to help those affected by the bushfires in Victoria, with well over $6 million of that total coming from the pockets of the Australian public.
Included in that figure are the proceeds of the auction of the players’ shirts on cricket.com.au, as well as the generous support received from the Adelaide public, with more than $48,000 donated at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday alone.
Speaking before tomorrow’s night’s deciding Commonwealth Bank Series match against New Zealand at the Gabba, Ponting congratulated the Australian public for their overwhelming support.
“Thank you very much to the Australian public for their unbelievable support of the Commonwealth Bank Series fundraising appeal,” Ponting said.
“The team went up to Whittlesea yesterday to spend a couple of hours there to try in some way, shape, or form, make a small difference to some of the families who have been affected by this tragedy.”
Ponting has also urged Australians to continue to support the victims of the bushfires and the national telethon which will broadcast on the Nine Network tonight.
“The players and Cricket Australia have done that over the past couple of days and will continue to support it during the telethon. Thanks to all of Australia for what you have done and please continue to dig deep over the next couple of days,” he said.
“I must admit it was fairly confronting for all of us yesterday. A few of the guys were concerned on the bus trip there, to see what we might see there. Once we got there, you could see we did make a small difference.
“We did lift a few spirits. A lot of the families and school teachers did come to us and say it’s the first time they have seen smiles on the kids’ faces for quite a while. We saw people at their absolute lowest, a whole community and a couple of communities at their absolute lowest. We were talking to people who had been back up the mountain for the first time yesterday and never wanted to go back again.
“It’s a place a lot of people have lived for a lot of their lives and they don’t want to go and face what’s there. It was a devastating thing for all the people involved, for us walking away and having a sleep on it last night, all of cricket should be really proud of the efforts that have been made to make a small difference. We know it’s only a tiny difference, but it appeared from the outside that everybody we rubbed shoulders with yesterday really enjoyed us being up there.
“The real spirit around the community was something anybody would be in real awe of. That whole community had really come together. Some of the stories we were hearing, people driving a caravan a couple of hours so people could sleep in it. That’s sort of stuff. The sharing and selflessness that is up there at the moment is something to behold. See how strong, and how much spirit people have.”
Cricket’s involvement in the appeal will continue tomorrow night during the Nine Network broadcast of Commonwealth Bank Series match at the Gabba, with two Emirates business class return flights to Europe valued at $25,980 to be auctioned. All proceeds will go to the appeal and the auction will be held on cricket.com.au/bushfireappeal.
The auction will commence at the start of the match and end at 12pm on Saturday.
The Commonwealth Bank Series Bushfire Appeal has so far raised more than $9.6 million to help those affected by the bushfires in Victoria, with well over $6 million of that total coming from the pockets of the Australian public.
Included in that figure are the proceeds of the auction of the players’ shirts on cricket.com.au, as well as the generous support received from the Adelaide public, with more than $48,000 donated at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday alone.
Speaking before tomorrow’s night’s deciding Commonwealth Bank Series match against New Zealand at the Gabba, Ponting congratulated the Australian public for their overwhelming support.
“Thank you very much to the Australian public for their unbelievable support of the Commonwealth Bank Series fundraising appeal,” Ponting said.
Ricky Ponting in Whittlesea
“The team went up to Whittlesea yesterday to spend a couple of hours there to try in some way, shape, or form, make a small difference to some of the families who have been affected by this tragedy.”
Ponting has also urged Australians to continue to support the victims of the bushfires and the national telethon which will broadcast on the Nine Network tonight.
“The players and Cricket Australia have done that over the past couple of days and will continue to support it during the telethon. Thanks to all of Australia for what you have done and please continue to dig deep over the next couple of days,” he said.
“I must admit it was fairly confronting for all of us yesterday. A few of the guys were concerned on the bus trip there, to see what we might see there. Once we got there, you could see we did make a small difference.
“We did lift a few spirits. A lot of the families and school teachers did come to us and say it’s the first time they have seen smiles on the kids’ faces for quite a while. We saw people at their absolute lowest, a whole community and a couple of communities at their absolute lowest. We were talking to people who had been back up the mountain for the first time yesterday and never wanted to go back again.
“It’s a place a lot of people have lived for a lot of their lives and they don’t want to go and face what’s there. It was a devastating thing for all the people involved, for us walking away and having a sleep on it last night, all of cricket should be really proud of the efforts that have been made to make a small difference. We know it’s only a tiny difference, but it appeared from the outside that everybody we rubbed shoulders with yesterday really enjoyed us being up there.
“The real spirit around the community was something anybody would be in real awe of. That whole community had really come together. Some of the stories we were hearing, people driving a caravan a couple of hours so people could sleep in it. That’s sort of stuff. The sharing and selflessness that is up there at the moment is something to behold. See how strong, and how much spirit people have.”
Cricket’s involvement in the appeal will continue tomorrow night during the Nine Network broadcast of Commonwealth Bank Series match at the Gabba, with two Emirates business class return flights to Europe valued at $25,980 to be auctioned. All proceeds will go to the appeal and the auction will be held on cricket.com.au/bushfireappeal.
The auction will commence at the start of the match and end at 12pm on Saturday.
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