| Fred Hollows Foundation director Gabi Hollows (right) with Professor ... Fred Hollows Foundation director Gabi Hollows (right) with Professor Lee Astheimer at the UOW Cares first anniversary expo | 
| Gabi Hollows (centre) with UOW Cares representatives at the first ann... Gabi Hollows (centre) with UOW Cares representatives at the first anniversary expo |
Gabi Hollows praises UOW’s ‘giving culture’
1 Jul 2008 | Nick Hartgerink
Fred Hollows Foundation director Gabi Hollows praised the giving culture of the University of Wollongong, saying staff who had joined the UOW Cares program were making a real difference with their donations to charities direct from their salaries
Ms Hollows came to the University on 1 July to speak at the first-year anniversary expo of UOW Cares, a program that gives staff the opportunity to make a tax-deductible donation to eight charities and two UOW causes from pre-tax income.
“Thankyou for making a difference,” Ms Hollows told guests at the expo. “This is such a great program. It is so simple and a tax-effective way to give something back.”
Ms Hollows said she was grateful that the Foundation, which works to restore sight through operations for cataract blindness and other reversible eye conditions in people in indigenous communities in Australia and in developing countries, had been chosen as one of the beneficiaries of UOW Cares.
She gave a presentation on the Foundation’s work to guests at the expo. The Foundation was established in 1992 to continue the work of her late husband, ophthalmologist Professor Fred Hollows, who had dedicated his life to restoring sight in the developing world – both through his own work and by training local doctors to perform the operations.
Professor Hollows died after a battle with cancer in 1993. Since then, the Fred Hollows Foundation has organised one million sight-restoration operations in developing countries around the world.
“Fred would be blown away if you could see what has been achieved,” Ms Hollows said.
The other charities and UOW causes in the UOW Cares program are:
- The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program
- NSW Cancer Council
- The South Coast School for Children with Autism
- Australian Conservation Foundation
- Oxfam Community Aid Abroad
- Indigo Foundation
- RSPCA
- UOW Equity Fund
- UOW Research and Innovation Fund
UOW Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Lee Astheimer said the scheme had raised $35,000 in its first year, but there was potential to raise much more. “If every staff member donated the price of one cup of coffee a week, we’d be up to $58,000 in the coming year,” she said.
For more details on UOW Cares, visit the website www.uow.edu.au/about/community/giving or call the Office of Community and Partnerships on 42213110.
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