Christmas Support

It is fast approaching Christmas which means that we are getting organised to provide over one hundred parcels to individuals and families in the area who need some support for this festive time.

Unfortunately our own shelves are looking very empty after a very busy winter. Anyone who can help by making a small donation to this project would be much appreciated. We have collection boxes in Orewa Kiwibank and Orewa New World. Any non-perishable goods would be welcome as long as they have not passed their "best by" date. Family staples such as Weetbix, cornflakes or Ricies, long life milk, tea, coffee, jam, muesli bars, tinned fruit, baked beans, spaghetti, noodles, pasta and pasta sauce, tinned corn, beans or peas, mashed potato flakes, tinned chicken, salmon or tuna are especially needed. Treat items such as jelly, instant puddings, Raro sachets and Milo would be lovely for families with children.

Currently we are quite well stocked with rice, biscuits and soy milk.

Cash donations are always very useful as it means we can go and purchase the items that we are short of. If you wish to make a donation directly to our account the number is 12 3046 0205937 00. Please use the reference Christmas.

Venue Hire Opportunity

Do you need a venue on a weekly basis for a group or course? Our childcare building on the corner of Centreway Road is currently available during the day on Tuesdays, as well as every evening. While it is not suitable for disabled people it is very versatile in other respects. See our Childcare page for photographs and Services page for rates and description.

Our main site meeting room is also available now on a Thursday evening. Be in quickly if you are interested in booking it.

New Initiative to Help Parents

We have recently started a new initiative to help parents with the cost of their children's education. As we all know uniforms, stationery, trips, camps, school fees and other extra expenses can mount up, especially if there is more than one child in the family. This often means stress for parents or caregivers and sometimes means that the child misses out. We do not work directly with families so came up with a new idea to try and help through the school. We have already built a relationship with Stanmore Bay Primary School and Gulf Harbour Primary School so selected them as our first recipients. Both principals were keen to participate and agreed to deliver the assistance on our behalf. Consequently we donated a day's takings from our Community Shop to each school. Earlier in the year we also received a very generous donation from a supporter who wished us to assist vulnerable children so added some extra funds from this. It gave us great pleasure to present over $750 to each school and we hope that several families will be able to receive support in the months ahead. Next year we will look at offering the same opportunity to other schools in our area. This initiative complements our Community Donation Scheme and is only possible through the support we receive ourselves, hence our motto HELP US   HELP OUR COMMUNITY.