IT&T community raises $360,000 for IT Fund for Kids

The Starlight Children’s Foundation has announced that the IT&T community has managed to raise $360,000 for the IT Fund for Kids 2006 ‘Putting IT Back’ campaign.

The figure is double that of last year, the charity group said, and will go toward funding programs designed to improve the quality of life for Australia’s seriously ill and autistic children.

Funds were raised through the ‘Donate a Day’s Pay’ initiative and the ‘Know IT All’ Dinner Challenge, where over 40 leading IT&T companies were challenged against their industry peers to be crowned the ultimate ‘Know IT All’.

Jill Weekes, CEO of the Starlight Children’s Foundation, said the generosity of the IT&T sector had helped bring Starlight Children’s Foundation closer to realising its goal of reaching ‘3 out of 3’ hospitalised kids is closer thanks to the efforts of Australian IT&T companies and IT departments.

“Technology is crucial in enabling sick children to stay connected with their family and friends when they are often isolated during their stays in hospital and extended recuperation periods at home,” she said in a statement.

The support from the IT&T sector in ‘Putting IT Back’ will assist in enabling access to programs designed to improve the quality of life to the more than 600,000 children with a serious illness such as autism, annually, the Foundation said.

In 2007, the organization plans to increase the reach of its Starlight and Giant Steps’ programs to reach to assist more Australian children in need.