Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Newcastle Permanent Building Society employees came together to donate their time and just over $13,000 to deliver more than 300 Supertee Marvel Edition medical garments to sick children in hospital.
Supertee was founded by Sydney dad, Jason Sotiris, whose daughter was diagnosed with cancer at just one year old.
“The idea for the Supertee came to me while comforting my daughter Angela who was being treated for a cancer called Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis and I felt helpless not being able to do the simple task of putting clean clothes on her with IV drips, chest monitor cables and central lines making it impossible,” Jason said.
Jason invented a medical garment especially for children, named the Supertee.
“But more than that, Supertee encourages children into the world of imaginative play, which is a wonderful gift for a child in the sometimes distressing and often long hours spent in hospital.”
Thanks to our CommunityAssist Employee Donation Program, more than $13,000 will enable 311 children in hospital to receive a free Supertee.
Each year, our employees donate around $60,000 via payroll deductions and nominate charities they believe deserve support. Employees then vote to select four a year to receive funding.
To show our support for Supertee, beyond our donation, we held a packing event on Wednesday. More than 20 of our employees packed the Supertee garments into their individual tins - each containing a heartfelt, hand-written note to help inspire a child and their family - to be delivered to kids in hospital.
Newcastle Permanent provides two days paid volunteering leave to support charities or community groups and this was a great opportunity to get directly involved.