Panthers Indigenous Welfare officer Glen Liddiard has been very busy over the last few weeks, personally delivering all of your old footy jerseys to Indigenous communities in country New South Wales.
It follows the scheme we ran at the beginning of the year where people could trade-in their old jerseys and purchase a new one for just $100. It was a huge hit, with hundreds of people taking up the offer.
Since then, Glen has been working with various people in the community to get these jerseys out to communities that really need them.
“I worked really closely with ex-NRL star Ronnie Gibbs, who is now an NRL Development Officer for country areas, and we distributed them throughout western NSW to places like Dubbo, Brewarrina and Bourke.
“One town we visited were finding it almost impossible to get a full set of jumpers for their local side, so Ronnie created a special set from the donated jumpers we had and put numbers on them, and the team was able to play. We took jumpers out to places as far as Lake Cargelligo and as close as the Men’s Shed in Mt Druitt, which is a place where aboriginal men go to get the lives back on track.
“Some of the jerseys were used in the under 16 Darung Girls Nations of Origin Tournament held in Dubbo.
“I would really like to thank everybody who donated their old jumpers. By supporting this initiative, you have helped to make a difference in communities that are less fortunate than most, and I’m sure you have helped secure a few more Panthers supporters!”
Also this year, Panthers donated some old televisions to various community groups like the Rock Christian Fellowship and the Men’s Shed.
Glen also helped to deliver these and says the people who received them were so grateful.
“It was so good to see so many smiling faces and to see how happy they were when they saw what they were getting. It was like I’d given them the world. It really put a smile on my face to do this and it made me appreciate the job I have. I feel so proud to work for the Panthers, and I am blessed to be part of such an amazing community”.
The Trade-In scheme was made possible thanks to the support of OAK, Hertz and Asics.
