A simple idea of giving back to the community was what drove three Adelaide men in creating The GoTo Foundation – a foundation making a big difference.
Established in April 2010, by George Diakomichalis, Nick Apostolou, Lewis Pounentis, the GoTo Foundation is a non-profit organisation geared towards the improvement of health, wellbeing and education of individuals and groups by assisting to provide essential services for the benefit of all South Australians. Through events, fundraisers and gigs, the foundation is about to embark on its biggest challenge to date – riding from Melbourne to Adelaide for the Flinders University Autism Early Intervention Program (EIRP).
George Diakomichalis, told Neos Kosmos that they need to think big to raise the big money for the program. “We do a lot of events. Every year we have Mirror Balls and Happy Pants, an 80s dance night, we have quiz nights, but we knew for this program we had to do something big.”
The charity bike ride will start at Federation Square, Melbourne on Sunday 16 October and finish in Gawler Place, Rundle Mall, Adelaide on Saturday 22 October. The nine riders will cover a total of 895 kilometres and will ride through Melbourne, Ballarat, Hamilton, Penola, Kingston SE, Meningie, Murray Bridge and then Adelaide. With a target to raise $100,000, the boys are already halfway there.
“We needed to do something big for people to donate; we needed to aim big. This way we can get corporate sponsorship and are able to have different levels of sponsorship,” said Diakomichalis. All three philanthropists have full-time jobs, are business owners, family men, so to find the time to add this to their task list seems exhausting. “It’s very demanding but it’s also very, very rewarding,” explained Diakomichalis.
“When we started the foundation, the public responded really well, so we’ve gone the whole hog. Between the three of us, it’s a full-time job with what we do, with organising, meetings, but it’s something that we love. “The fact we are giving back to the community and the appreciation and the satisfaction you get from helping is something magnificent.
“And it’s a great lesson for me personally, for my two young daughters. They’ve learnt a lot about charity and how helping people is rewarding. I think it’s a positive thing for everyone.”