Pin & Win has been the VRC’s flagship charity endeavour since 1995 and has raised more than $7.4 million for charities through the sale of Lexus Melbourne Cup souvenir pins in that time, helping to change lives and support the community. It has supported the establishment of the Guide Dog training facility in Melbourne, Starlight Express rooms for 16,000 sick children and families, the world-class trauma centre at the Alfred Hospital and provided over 1.5 million meals for those in need through SecondBite, amongst other achievements.
Last year Pin & Win raised $493,000 for the club’s 2022-23 Pin & Win partner, the Australian Childhood Foundation, whose CEO Dr Joe Tucci said the 2022 Pin & Win campaign was one of the Foundation's most successful fundraising events in its 35-year history.
For the first time last year, the Melbourne Cup Carnival was responsible for raising over $1 million for the community. Complementing Pin & Win, the Melbourne Cup Carnival partnered with not-for-profit donation platform GIVIT to raise funds to support people affected by devastating flooding across the country in late 2022, with more than $500,000 worth of donated funds raised for flood-affected communities across Australia.
GIVIT CEO Sarah Tennant said the funds were used to provide critical support to people across Victoria and New South Wales.