The North Melbourne players will donate $10,000 from the AFL Players Care program to the Good Friday Appeal to help the Royal Children’s Hospital provide world class care.

And, to celebrate the launch of AFL Players’ Garage series this month, Mattel Hot Wheels will also match North Melbourne’s donation with $10,000 in Hot Wheels cars to distribute to patients at the hospital. 

North Melbourne midfielder and AFLPA delegate, Trent Dumont, says he hopes both donations will bring a smile to the faces of the kids receiving treatment. 

“The AFL Players Care initiative is a great way for players to give back to the community through charities close to their hearts,” Dumont said.

“Given our role in the Good Friday match and the great work the Appeal do for the Royal Children’s Hospital, the North Melbourne playing group want to play our part in ensuring the highest quality of service for children’s health. 

“Donating this money was the least we could do and for Mattel to match that with Hot Wheels product is a terrific gesture.” 

The AFL Players’ Garage was produced by the AFL Players’ Association, in conjunction with Mattel, and was launched in April on YouTube. The four-episode series is hosted by Patrick Dangerfield and sees kids share their love of footy and Hot Wheels cars with some of their favourite AFL players, including North Melbourne big man Ben Brown. 

“The Good Friday Appeal is such an iconic fundraising event in Victoria. We know how important play is in helping kids through tough times and toys are a great way to promote play,” Jacinta Whitehead, Director of Marketing Mattel ANZ, said.

“At Hot Wheels, we accept any challenge so when the AFL Players’ Association and North Melbourne FC presented us with an opportunity to help raise some money for the Royal Children’s Hospital, we said ‘Challenge Accepted’ and have donated the Race Suit that Patrick Dangerfield wore in the AFL Players’ Garage series for auction, along with 1,500 limited edition Hot Wheels cars to the kids that visit the hospital. 

“We hope that this small gesture will help brighten up the kids’ day while they are in hospital and the money raised from the auction will help the Good Friday Appeal enjoy another record breaking Good Friday.” 

AFL Players Care is the players’ official charity initiative and was established in 2014 when the male playing group voted to increase their match fee charity contributions from $25 to $50 per player, per game.

While $25 per game per player is still donated to the AFL Players’ official charity partner, Ladder, to help tackle youth homelessness, an additional $25 per game per player is now contributed to the AFL Players Care fund.

$180,000 of this fund is then equally distributed among all 18 male AFL clubs each season giving each team the opportunity to support one or two charities of they are passionate about. 

In 2017, the inaugural AFLW playing group elected to become a part of the AFL Players Care program, donating $25 of their football salaries to the cause.

In 2018, the AFL Players Care fund donated a record total of $508,015 to more than 30 Australian charities.