Cherish The Children Foundation

On Saturday, my brother and I were having a light conversation involving Aussie celebrities that we knew. Of course, the list started with Lleyton Hewitt and followed by Heath Ledger, Guy Pearce, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue, Poppy Montegory, etc. BUT, we couldn't recall the name of the tennis player who retired about 5 years ago. We recalled he is tall, tanned, looking great (especially when he used to tie up his shoulder length hair in a messy ponytail during his younger days). My brother added this tennis player's 1st name is rather "normal" (meaning not as creative as Keith, Keegan, etc.). It took me 6 hours to recall in fact it's Pat Rafter - the Sunshine Coast boy, the tennis star from Queensland.

I found out only this morning that Pat Rafter donated his earnings from the Australian Open in 1999 to help disadvantaged children in Australia. With the help of his sister Louise and mother Jocelyn, the "Cherish The Children" Foundation has a great support group.

I like particularly his speech during the Australian Of the Year Award 2002 (here the snippets):
This is an unbelievable honour. World rankings and winning Grand Slams have been important to me, but I consider being named as Australian of the Year to be the high point of my life so far.

Thank you to all my brothers and sisters, I'll never forget the sacrifices that you guys made for me. Mum and Dad, I have tried to live by the values you taught me. And now I strongly believe that the values you gain from our families are also the values that shape Australia itself. For example Mum taught me that it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you compete and conduct yourself.

Dad, you taught me to give it my best, and if I lost, to accept it, and to be nice about it. Believe me that came in handy on more than a few occasions. Acting like a spoilt brat doesn't turn a loss into a win.

I mention those teachings because they are based around true Australian family values and when you extend those values beyond the family they become qualities that underpin all that's good in Australia.

We are the lucky ones and I'm proud to be an Australian.

Thank you Australia
Patrick Rafter