Our Work in New Zealand

Click here to learn about our charity’s “Community Needs” and “Free Hot Lunches in Schools” Projects to help families living in poverty
Click here to learn about our latest “NZ Tourism & Environment Rewards Program Fundraiser”

In New Zealand there are thousands of charities working hard to carry out their charitable work. Funding and grant institutions provide opportunities for charities to receive funds to help them carry out their work - but with COVID-19 these resources are greatly reduced. This, along with donor fatigue makes it very difficult for charities to continue operating as they once did. Charities realize they need to find different ways of fundraising if they are to continue their charitable works.

Our two New Zealand charitable missions are…
… Helping families living in poverty
… Helping environmental/climate change projects

HELPING FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY:
Poverty is one of the biggest social issues in New Zealand - with child poverty greatly concerning to us. There are many thousands of children from poor families, who miss out on many everyday essential need items. Our charity wants to provide help in this area - and in doing so hopefully relieve some of the stress and anguish felt by parents/care-givers, who because of being on a low-income find it very hard to make ends meet. We are doing this in two ways, as follows…
The “Community Needs” Project:
This project is in its seventh year. We are very proud to have successfully carried out this service for this long - and look forward to many more years of delivering this service to those in need in the Northland community.

This project sees us receiving everyday essential need items that have been kindly donated by local families and businesses. These items are then sorted and given free to families who live in poverty.
Our charity has the help of health and social service providers, who with confidentiality protocols in place, help us identify families who need assistance and what their need items are. With this information we work to collect together the items for delivery directly to the homes of these families. Items include food, clothing, footwear, toys, children’s books, bedding, towels, drapes, kitchenware, furniture and whiteware.
Donated items are received at our charity premises, sorted and delivered directly to the homes of struggling families. The items are free to the families, as is the delivery to their homes.

Included in this service is the free delivery of “rescued” and “donated” food items. As part of a wrap-around service we receive food each week from Northland Food Rescue. We then sort in to food parcels and deliver these to families in need. Currently we help around 150 people each week. The demand for this service has grown with COVID-19 and we are expect to be serving to more families over the coming months.

Our busiest time of the year is winter. This is when we operate the “Winter Needs’” Project. We are all aware that many families will struggle to keep warm and well over the winter months - and that many children will get sick and end up in hospital. In an effort to relieve stress and hopefully prevent hospitalization, our charity works to distribute many hundreds of winter-need items to households over the winter period. This, we hope, will go some way to helping families have a warmer and more comfortable winter. As we deliver to their homes, we see relief in their faces. They are truly grateful for the help given and many are moved to tears when we tell them that it is our pleasure to be helping them. They feel that we show them dignity, that we genuinely care about their situation and that we are not there to judge them. We look forward to continuing to help these families and hope it goes some way to provide them relief from the daily struggles they face.

“Free Hot Lunches in Schools” Project:
Our charity has a “Free Hot Lunches in Schools” Project, where through fundraising efforts we are able to provide hot lunches for Whangarei children who regularly turn up at school without lunch. We have been providing this service this since September 2019 - and with further fundraising efforts we look forward to providing additional lunches for children in need. We made the decision to provide hot lunches rather than sandwiches, because we reasoned that if children were regularly turning up to school without lunch there was a good chance they were not enjoying regular hot meals at home.

While the government has made a start providing lunches in schools, it is not expected to serve all the children in need. We will therefore continue and expand this service.

FUNDRAISING FOR LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL/CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECTS & HELPING NZ TOURISM AT THE SAME TIME:
As part of a unique charity/social enterprise strategy we will be raising funds for local environmental/climate change projects and helping New Zealand tourism and hospitality operators at the same time.

Due to COVID-19 New Zealand tourism and hospitality operators are struggling. Many businesses are in survival mode. To help survive while our border remains closed these operators need families holidaying. But at the same time families need prices that will allow them to holiday. This is where the “NZ Tourism & Environment Rewards Program Fundraiser” can help. Here’s how it works:
As part of a unique charity/social enterprise strategy, in October 2020 this charity website (new website coming soon) will host a platform where New Zealand tourism and hospitality operators can receive permanent, 100% free advertising space to offer their discounts and specials to encourage people to holiday here at home while our border is closed.

We are currently trying to reach every businesses operating in tourism and hospitality in New Zealand to offer them this 100% free advertising space as part of this Rewards Program - (vetting/conditions apply).

With a large directory of businesses, this will attract the public to browse and see what discounts and specials are on offer. If people would like to receive the great discounts and specials they can to join the “NZ Tourism & Environment Rewards Program Fundraiser.” They can enjoy a 5-day holiday membership or a 4-week holiday membership. A small membership fee is asked to be part of the program. This go toward our charity’s environmental projects (fees range from $9 for singles to $24 for a family of four).
We see the “NZ Tourism & Environment Rewards Fundraiser” as a WIN, WIN, WIN strategy. In short, the strategy works this way…
… Our charity provides a 100% free platform for businesses to offer discounts and specials… individuals/families join as members of the Rewards Program and enjoy the discounts and specials… membership fees go toward our charity/environment projects

HOW OUR CHARITABLE WORKS IN NEW ZEALAND ARE FUNDED
As a registered charity, we gratefully accept donations and issue tax receipts for $5 and over, made here in New Zealand for local projects. We are also thankful for the opportunities to receive grants from funders. We also receive grants to help cover operating costs.

Our local fundraisers include:
… donations and running a charity shop at 24 John Street, Whangarei to fund the “Free Hot Lunches in Schools” Project
… the “NZ Tourism & Environment Rewards Fundraiser” (underway October 2020) - click here to learn about this fundraiser.
… due to COVID-19 and closed borders the Global Loyalty-Rewards Fundraiser, due to get underway 2020 has been postponed until a suitable vaccine is found and borders are open again. Most funds from this global fundraiser are for projects outside New Zealand, but there will be funds available for climate change/environmental projects here at home. Click here to learn about the Global Loyalty-Rewards Fundraiser.

If you would like to help fund our charity’s work, there are two ways you can do this…
1. Become a member in the Global Loyalty-Rewards Fundraiser - to help People & Planet - click here to view membership options
2. We appreciate that some, especially businesses, prefer to give a donation. We gratefully accept these and issue a New Zealand receipt for tax purposes for all donations made in New Zealand $5 and over - click here to donate

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