The Illawarra Hawks have taken an important step on their quest to be a club that truly matters to the whole Illawarra community, by announcing the introduction of their new signature community program, “Hawks Helps”.
Hawks Helps is a completely new suite of initiatives, being custom designed to deliver support for the community in ways that matter to local people.
It is being built around three pillars: First Nations, Mental Fitness in schools, and inclusivity, particularly the empowerment of women and girls. These themes are aligned with and complement the Hawks’ community basketball activities, in partnership with Illawarra Basketball Association and other basketball community partners.
“This is the Club’s ‘signature’ program because it represents the central foundation of the Hawks’ renewed long term strategy, which re-prioritises the contribution that the Club makes to the Illawarra community,” said Hawks CEO, Stu Taggart. “The Hawks want to help make the Illawarra a better place through basketball, and Hawks Helps will be the engine room for that vision.”
Hawks General Manager for Community, former Hawks skipper Kevin White, is excited to have responsibility for the development and delivery of this landmark program.
“As a former Hawks captain, I experienced first-hand the extraordinary support of this Illawarra community,” White commented, “So it’s a huge privilege to lead the Hawks’ efforts to return the favour, through developing and implementing this exciting new community program.”
“Having a dedicated community program in Hawks Helps is a powerful commitment to the Illawarra community,” White added. “We have run various activations in schools and grassroots basketball over the years, but the Club has never set out to create a substantial and enduring support program for the community – and that is the vision for Hawks Helps.”
Each of the Hawks Helps pillars will begin to be brought to life over the coming weeks and through the forthcoming NBL25 season. With the recent announcement of the Hawks and Greater Bank partnership, Greater is proudly backing the Mental Fitness pillar of the program. The Mental Fitness schools program is scheduled to make its debut at Mount St Thomas Public School at the beginning of Term 4 this year, while the inaugural meeting of the Hawks First Nations Advisory Committee is scheduled for early September.
“With Greater Bank coming on board as our first major partner in this community space, the program is starting to feel real,” said White. “As Hawks and Greater Bank bring together our respective deep relationships and long experience across the Illawarra community over the coming months, I think we will really begin to see Hawks Helps starting to make a difference to the people of this great region.”
To get involved, register your interest here.