Macquarie Group Foundation

For many years Macquarie Group staff have been supporters of JDRF through staff volunteering, fundraising initiatives and participation in events including the Walk and Ride to Cure Diabetes, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In early 2008, JDRF and the Macquarie Group Foundation formed a ground-breaking partnership to support research into type 1 diabetes.

The unique partnership, to which the Macquarie Group Foundation has committed $2.2million over four years, is a first for Australia and an enormous step forward for type 1 diabetes research internationally. The partnership aims to significantly increase the volume and impact of type 1 diabetes research and to support and recognise innovation in research programs.

"While Australia has some of the best type 1 researchers in the world, progress can be improved with better support for coordination of research and communication between key diabetes researchers" said JDRF CEO, Mike Wilson.

"This partnership with the Macquarie Group Foundation will help integrate the multiple research and clinical disciplines involved with this complicated condition and encourage research innovation."

Chairman of the Macquarie Group Foundation, David Clarke, said the partnership had the potential to help people with type 1 diabetes both in Australia and around the world.

"JDRF is driving an international effort to combat type 1 diabetes and this partnership with the Macquarie Group Foundation will ensure Australia continues to play a key role in the search for a cure."

"Macquarie staff have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for JDRF over many years and we are proud to increase our support for diabetes research through this partnership."

Woolworths

The support of Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets is one of the key reasons for the continued success of the Jelly Baby campaign, held in May every year.

Since Woolworths and Safeway joined the campaign in 2003, sales of Jelly Baby merchandise have increased by a staggering 70%. In 2007, Woolworths and Safeway customers raised over $500,000 for Australian diabetes research. An outstanding result!

Boral Ltd

With a partnership that has spanned seven years, Boral is one of JDRF’s most valued corporate supporters. From humble beginnings, Boral support is now an integral part of  many JDRF activities.

In October 2007 Boral contributions to JDRF reached $1million – thanks to the efforts of their employees, customers and suppliers.  Rod Pearse, Boral’s CEO and Managing Director said that Boral has been supporting JDRF since 2001.  “I am immensely proud of our partnership with JDRF.  It clearly demonstrates the power of employee involvement and teamwork in achieving a common goal and the benefits of long-term community partnerships. 

“Around 85% of our $1 million contribution has come directly from employee fundraising activities across Australia, and more recently across our US operations. In many cases, our fundraising activities have involved family members, customers and suppliers and we are very grateful for the contribution they have made.  We are particularly proud of this achievement knowing that the Boral team is the first corporate partner of JDRF Australia’s to achieve reach this $1 million benchmark.  We hope others will be there soon.” said Mr Pearse.

Westpac Banking Corporation

Sponsorship of JDRF's well-known giant jelly baby costumes is only one of the many ways in which Westpac Banking Corporation has supported the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The partnership which  includes national sponsorship was founded when Westpac staff got behind the Walk to Cure Diabetes in 1998.

2008 marks the 10 year anniversary of the partnership with JDRF through the Walk to Cure Diabetes.

IBM Global Services

The JDRF and IBM Global Services partnership has been in place for nearly a decade to deliver cutting edge technology to assist JDRF in delivering its mission in an efficient and effective manner. 

IBM, a leading supplier of information technology globally, joined forces with JDRF initially through its staff involvement in the Walk to Cure Diabetes. A short time later IBM developed a screensaver for the foundation and several senior IBM staff joined Walk committees in various states. Since that early acquaintance, the partnership has expanded to include the pro-bono provision of onsite support, a call centre HelpDesk and the design and implementation of a national virtual private network (VPN) including the server hardware to deliver the platform.  Further to this, IBM provides desktop and laptop computers to JDRF through Lenovo at greatly discounted prices.

In 2007/08 the JDRF network was upgraded for the third time in 7 years, providing high-end servers and the architecture necessary to connect all JDRF offices nationally to enable access to central files based in Melbourne and Sydney as well as access to the centralised database. This improves the efficiency of individual computers, gives common access to an expanding database and prevents data loss through an efficient back up process.

Since work began in September 2001, IBM has patiently and continuously offered its help and services every step of the way. Ron Gottschalk, James Inglis and the support team from Collins Street in Melbourne have spent many hours including late nights to bring this network together to benefit JDRF’s mission.