The Victoria Racing Club (VRC) and Vision Australia announced that more than $193,000 was raised for Vision Australia's Seeing Eye Dogs following the Vision's successful campaign as the 2011 Melbourne Cup Carnival Pin & Win charity partner.
Vision Australia CEO Gerard Menses said he was thrilled with the results and thanked the VRC for the opportunity to be involved in the iconic racing event.
"The funds raised through Pin & Win will go towards the redevelopment of Vision Australia's Seeing Eye Dogs National Education, Breeding and Training Facility in Kensington," Mr Menses said.
"By developing a larger and more efficient facility, SEDA will have the capabilities to breed and train a greater number of Seeing Eye Dogs, therefore shortening the waiting period for people to be matched with their Seeing Eye Dog."
"It costs more than $30,000 to train one Seeing Eye Dog and because SEDA is committed to offering services at no charge, we rely entirely on the generosity of the community, making opportunities such as Pin & Win vital to ongoing success," Mr Menses said.
VRC CEO Dale Monteith said Vision Australia was selected as the charity partner for Pin & Win because of their incredible work with Australians who are blind or have low vision.
"We are always pleased to support charities that are committed to making a real difference in the lives of Australians," Mr Monteith said.
"It's a simple fundraising concept but the results speak for themselves," Mr Monteith said.
"The VRC looks forward to seeing the SEDA development progress, and we thank Vision Australia and their hundreds of volunteers for making Pin & Win such a great success in 2011."
Once complete, the SEDA facility will feature a new breeding centre, kennels, client training accommodation and a hydrotherapy pool for Seeing Eye Dogs. This will enable Vision Australia to more than double the number of Seeing Eye Dogs and other mobility training services available to clients who are blind or have low vision.
With the number of people who are blind or with low vision set to double to 600,000 by 2020, the demand for Seeing Eye Dogs is steadily increasing.
For more information on Pin & Win or the Melbourne Cup Community Programmes please visit www.melbournecup.com. For more information on Vision Australia's Seeing Eye Dogs please visit www.visionaustralia.org/seda