Celebrating the Countdown contribution are from left Amy Maddock, Cilla Montaperto-Britt, Tira Tamatea, Juliana DeCosta, Paul Vicent, Eli Vincent, Nicki Dever, Sophie Vincent, Dr Shaun Grant, Deb McKay, Ruth Krippner, Nong Campbell and Gurpreet Kaur.
For the second time, Tairāwhiti children will benefit from the national Countdown Kids Hospital Appeal. A cheque for $60,000 was presented to staff from Hauora Tairāwhiti’s Planet Sunshine last week. This follows a cheque for $50,000 received in 2015.
The money is raised through fundraising activities by staff from Countdown Supermarkets throughout New Zealand. Each year a number children's wards are chosen to receive a share of the funds raised. The appeal has been going for 11 years and has raised $11.6 million nationwide during that time.
Members of the Gisborne Countdown Team who had been involved in fundraising visited Planet Sunshine to see first-hand how the equipment they had fundraised for in 2015 was benefitting children in Gisborne Hospital.
As the cheque was presented Store Manager Paul Vincent said it is personally rewarding to see the difference the money is making for sick children. “Each year our staff come up with a range of clever ideas to raise money. This year we did car washes, BBQs and raffles. We are already working on ideas for next year with a golf day on the cards.”
Paediatrician Dr Shaun Grant said he was speechless at the generosity of the Countdown Team.
“Your efforts acknowledge the difficulty families face when kids get sick and end up in hospital.
Our job is to make the journey from sickness to health as painless as possible. Money to get the equipment we need to keep improving the health of our young people is always a battle. There are so many competing priorities for health money.”
“The money raised by Countdown makes our job easier and most importantly makes the children’s journey a little bit smoother. Thanks to everyone involved for your hard work and your aroha for our community.”
A wish list of equipment that we think will make the biggest difference to children in Planet Sunshine has been drawn up, added Dr Grant. “With such a generous donation it is likely that most items on the list will be able to be purchased in the new year.“