Double matching my donations

Helping others in need has always been important to me. I had a humble upbringing in Portugal and both my parents worked really hard. No matter what challenges we faced as a family or how little we had, they were always ready to help someone else. It was beautiful and it stuck with me.

 

I want my son to see me continue the journey and to instill those same values in him. His upbringing is of course different: I grew up in a small country that faces a lot of macroeconomic challenges. Growing up in Portugal taught me that with one piece of bread, you can easily make a lot of smaller pieces for others. I make an effort to show my son that the more you give, the more life gives back.

 

I first read about Westpac’s Workplace Giving program #DoubleTheGood opportunity on the intranet in 2022 and I signed up right away. Among all the different workplace giving policies available, this one struck me as the most impactful. It works like this: every dollar I donate to charities as part of this program, #DoubleTheGood will be matched dollar for dollar.

 

I chose these four charities to donate to: Westpac Group Foundation, St George Foundation, Bank of Melbourne Foundation, and Bank SA Foundation. Each organisation helps children in need and provides support to community organisations. As a mother and an aunty, this is important to me. Knowing that a percentage of my income is regularly donated – and that Westpac doubles the amount I provide – gives me an extra sense of purpose in my life.

 

I do volunteering outside of work, and I also donate groceries, clothes and toys to homeless charities in Sydney. This year I did the 21 kilometre Walk for a Cure with Westpac, which raised money for cancer research.

 

I will continue to seek out ways to help others in my free time, and I am glad that Westpac makes it easy for me to give. It has given me the option to help others in my professional life as well as my personal life.

 

#WeAreWestpac #WeAdvocate