For three consecutive years, Westpac and the Rotary Club of Suva East have partnered to bring needy families in the community Diwali hampers. This year, in the weeks leading up to the festival of lights, teams were mobilised to distribute a total of 480 hampers to families across Fiji.

Under the partnership, the Rotary Club of Suva East coordinated the assistance through the Rotary Fiji network (a collective of all eight Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Fiji) to help implement the project.

The Diwali hampers containing basic food items and assorted Diwali sweets were distributed to families in the main centres of Ba, Labasa, Lautoka, Nadi, Namosi, Nausori, Rakiraki, Savusavu, Sigatoka, Suva, Taveuni, Tavua, and Vatukoula. 

Westpac Fiji Chief Executive Shane Smith said, “We felt strongly about forgoing our annual Diwali corporate celebration and instead pledged the resources to be used for this purpose. This year’s extra special because we were able to go further and extend our help to communities in Vanua Levu. Giving back to our community, is something that’s ingrained into our work culture, and it’s truly rewarding to witness our employees champion and live such great values.”

Westpac was happy to partner with Rotary to leverage off their community networks and expertise given their experience in community outreach. This was especially so in identifying communities and recipients for the Diwali packs.

Rotary Club of Suva East President, Erica Lee said ‘The Rotary Clubs in Suva East was delighted to partner again with Westpac to bring Diwali cheer to Fijian families. Partnerships with the corporate sector like Westpac means that we can expand our community service projects to reach more families.’