The Lyone Foundation, founded by the Lyone family – owners of COS, Australia’s largest privately owned office products supplier – has donated a further $57,000 to three inspiring Australian charities as part of its goal to donate $1 million each year to help disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalised Australians.  

Since its creation in 2013, the Lyone Foundation has raised a donation pool of over $3 million. This latest round of funds will be donated to three well-deserving Australian charities, each receiving $19,000.

The charities to receive funding are Feel the Magic Foundation, the country’s leading grief education and support program, Soldier On, which provides support and services to veterans and their families, and The Gold Foundation, which provides support for young people with Asperger Syndrome.

COS Managing Director and Founder of the Lyone Foundation, Dominique Lyone, said, “Giving back and sharing our success with the wider community is a big part of the culture at COS. When my family first immigrated to Australia in 1967 after fleeing Egypt following the Six Day War, we received a lot of help from charities. Honouring this help and paying it forward is the essence of the Lyone Foundation.”

“The Lyone Foundation is funded by COS’ profits each year and we choose a range of different charities that are doing inspiring work to Australians facing challenging times,” said Mr Lyone.

The Lyone Foundation is part of the fabric of COS, with COS’ 350 employees across Australia involved in deciding how funds will be distributed to each charity.

COS General Manager and Lyone Foundation board member, Belinda Lyone, said, “With each new round of funding our board decides how the majority of funds are allocated and the staff are then given a pool of funds to distribute to each charity based on a voting system. In this case the voting was very close, and the executive team decided to top up each charity’s donation to $19,000 so they were all even.”

The selected charities will use the funds accordingly:

• Feel the Magic Foundation: The funds will go towards enabling grieving children to attend its Camp Magic program, at no cost to their families, which offers children a safe place to explore and understand their grief with a focus on guiding them to develop resilience.
• Soldier On: Dedicated to assisting veterans re-adjust to normal life, the funds will help pay for workshops to assist veterans manage emotional and mental health issues while providing opportunities to reconnect with their families.
• The Gold Foundation: The funds donated will facilitate bi-annual social skills programs for children suffering from Asperger Syndrome. These programs will provide one-on-one learning opportunities and mentoring as well as support for children and their families.

Other charities Lyone Foundation has donated funds to include Compassion Australia, St Vincent De Paul, House of Welcome, Livin, Dress for Success Sydney, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Association of Australia, Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation and WINGS Of Hope.

COS is Australia’s largest privately owned office products supplier, servicing over 5,000 B2B customers across Australia and offering thousands of products used in today’s modern workplace including technology, kitchen and cleaning, furniture, print and promotional items, and office supplies. COS supports organisations of all sizes by offering out of the box solutions for their workplace needs by taking the time to understand not just their procurement goals but also the goals of the organisation. www.cos.net.au

COS is passionate about sharing its success with the wider community through the Lyone Foundation. Created in 2013, the Lyone Foundation has the goal of contributing $1 million each year to Australian charities that help disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalised people. To date the Foundation has raised a donation pool of over $3 million. www.lyonefoundation.com.au 

About Feel the Magic Foundation

Feel the Magic is an Australian not for profit that runs the Camp Magic program, a grief education and support program dedicated to assisting children with the skill set to grow and develop resilience when faced with a loss. http://www.feelthemagic.org.au/

About Soldier On

Soldier On is an Australian charity which aims to assist veterans reintegrate into normal life by focusing on their physical and mental health, their family, community and future by linking them with a support network of other veterans and their families. https://www.soldieron.org.au/

About The Gold Foundation

The Gold Foundation aims to provide social skills programs to support children with Asperger Syndrome as well as a support group for their families so that they are able to live full and engaging lives in the community. https://www.goldfoundation.com.au/