22 December 2009
Every year thousands of travellers pass through the airport and drop their unwanted overseas coins and notes in the donation globes situated throughout the airport.
Last Christmas Auckland Airport was able to use this money to donate a total of $120,000 to 12 different charities in their 12 Days of Christmas initiative. It was so successful they’ve repeated the event again this year.
According to Zella Morrison, Community Relations Manager at Auckland Airport, it’s the perfect way to distribute the coins donated throughout the year by travellers. “We feel privileged to be able to help in some way with those charities that help others during the festive season,” she says.
This year’s recipients come from across the country, ranging from a bird sanctuary in Matakana to a literacy charity in the South Island.
On the first day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Camellia House
Camellia House is a women’s refuge that offers specialised refuge services to families – including recent immigrants - with disabilities who are escaping domestic violence. They are unique to NZ in terms of their speciality. They started with one house in Mangere 15 years ago, and now have 5 houses throughout Franklin and South Auckland.
They have a single van that provides all transport needs for the 5 houses. This has proven to be extremely difficult to manage logistically, so they applied to the Airport/Herald 12 Days of Christmas initiative in order to purchase a second van.
Read more about it here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10615054
On the second day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Mission Adventure Trust.
Mission Adventure Trust (http://www.mission-adventure.org.nz/) is a children’s charity that uses educational voyages on traditional sailing ships to open them to new possibilities in life and learning.
The ships are modelled on sailing scows used by early NZ settlers, and there is a strong focus on using team strategies on the voyage. Kids will learn that discipline and teamwork is needed to live so closely together and achieve collective goals.
They work with schools and children’s clubs, and try and ensure that disadvantaged kids get an opportunity to learn more about marine experiences.
They have a particular focus on water safety. They rightly point out that lack of marine experience and knowledge is a contributing factor in drowning, and that disadvantaged kids are disproportionately represented in water death statistics in NZ.
The $10,000 will be used to purchase 50 modern, safe, self-inflatable life jackets to replace the cumbersome old-fashioned life jackets that are restrictive and ‘uncool’ and now nearing the end of their useful life.
Read more about it here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10615331
On the third day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Hospice South Auckland.
Hospice South Auckland is developing a new annual community event to raise funds and awareness of the Hospice service, which provides care, compassion and support for end of life.
The event they are planning will be a ‘Dawn Walk’, which will take place on 28 March 2010 and will be a pre-sunrise walk around the Botanical Gardens. They want to engage with all the community and raise funds through a small entry fee and sponsorship for the walkers.
Their intention is for the event to be very well known and well-attended, so they intend to run the event professionally and with lots of promotional activity to encourage participation. Their aim is to raise at least $100,000 in the first year, and more in subsequent years.
The $10,000 will be used to pay for 1/3 of the costs to set-up and run the event (aside from the $10,000 from Auckland Airport, the Hospice has already obtained additional corporate support from Hawkins Construction and others).
Read more about it here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/auckland-airport/news/article.cfm?o_id=15&objectid=10615544&ref=rss
On the fourth day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to the Manukau Volunteer Coast Guard.
The Manukau Volunteer Coast Guard are based at French Bay in Titirangi. They have been serving as volunteer coast guards for 40 years now, and provide volunteer coast guard support services for the Manukau Harbour region (including near the airport).
They currently have plans before the Waitakere City Council for consent to build a ‘protective boat shed’ on land to house their 12.5 metre rescue boat which is presently moored permanently at French bay. The boat needs to be able to be stored on land for essential maintenance and preservation of operational life. They also have plans for a jetty to be built alongside the reserve at French Bay to serve the yacht club and for refuelling of the rescue vessel.
The $10,000 will go towards the costs of construction of the boat-shed.
To read more about it go here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10615730
On the fifth day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Duffy Books in Homes.
Duffy Books in Homes is a literacy charity aimed at breaking the cycle of ‘booklessness’ amongst kids at low decile schools in New Zealand. See www.booksinhomes.org.nz
Since the launch in 1995 the programme now reaches 556 schools and over 100,000 students across the whole country. They intend to use the $10,000 to cover the full cost for two South Island schools who are new to their programme.
To read more see http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10616013
On the sixth day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Look Good Feel Better.
Look Good Feel Better is a free service to help women with cancer offset appearance-related changes from treatment.
http://www.lookgoodfeelbetter.co.nz/
Their aim is to help restore and enhance the appearance of cancer patients both during and after treatment. They offer guidance, information and makeover expertise at special workshops throughout New Zealand (23 different towns and cities).
A workshop involves a step by step makeover session led by trained and skilled volunteers, and everyone who attends receives a free gift and the skills to perform a new beauty regime at home. Attendees find the atmosphere light, informal, supportive and caring.
The Look Good Feel Better programme is non-medical. It does not interfere with medical treatment, make any medical claims or replace professional medical advice in any way. The programme is supported and endorsed by the Cancer Society of New Zealand (but is not part of the Cancer Society) and proudly assisted by the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association of New Zealand (CTFA).
The $10,000 will be used to fund a number of extra workshops.
To read more about it click here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10616224
On the seventh day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to the Disabled Citizens Society.
The DCS started in 1943 supporting disabled veterans to become more independent. Today they support many people with various disabilities to access foundation skills such as literacy and numeracy and they arrange provision of community engagement and employment opportunities. They also support many more people with total mobility transport options.
They serve the Auckland region from the 421 Dominion Road Mt Eden base.
The $10,000 will be spent on a pilot organic garden project in Mangere. Stage one has commenced and has involved ground preparation and a 22 week organic gardening course for staff and disabled people. Stage two starts in January 2010 and will develop a full training module programme for young people and adults with disabilities.
The programme will teach organic gardening practices, skills transference to the wider whanau, and employment opportunities and selling of produce in local markets. Assuming the pilot works well, there will be more DCS organic gardens developed in Auckland.
Read more about it here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10616477
On the eighth day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Arapohue Bush Camp Trust.
Arapohue Bush Camp Trust runs the Windy Ridge Boys Farm “Reading for Rascals” programme. www.windyridgeboysfarm.com
They provide an alternative programme for boys struggling to achieve literacy in the school environment. Their view is that poor literacy often correlates with delinquency and prison. They offer the programme to people in the Auckland and Northern regions.
The $10,000 is to finish an upgrade of bathroom, waste-water and kitchen facilities to enable greater capacity.
The programme is led by Graham Crawshaw who has received the Queens Service medal for his life-long work in literacy and community. Graham is extremely passionate about the programme and is a good interview. He can be contacted on 09 425 8082.
Read more about it here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10616734
On the ninth day of Christmas… Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary Charitable Trust rescues and rehabilitates injured or orphaned NZ native birds. Based in Matakana, they receive injured or orphaned birds from SPCA, vets, DOC, bird rescue, environmental groups and the public.
They are licenced by DOC and liaise with Auckland Zoo. www.animalsanctuary.co.nz
The save as many birds as possible and once rehabilitated release them back into the wild. They receive many visitors (schools, volunteers, tourists) to see their operations.
The $10,000 donation will be used to create a special Auckland Airport in-flight aviary for recovering kereru. It will be a large aviary specially built and located in native bush and will be predator proof and capable of allowing visitor access.
Read more about it here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10616917
On the tenth day of Christmas... Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Ambury Park Centre.
Ambury Park Centre uses 26 horses to provide riding therapy to young people with a range of disabilities.
Over 100 young people benefit from the Centres courses each week, and they can cater for up to 40 full-time students. Another 80 students mostly from special schools attend their remedial or intensive courses once a week.
The students often have behavioural problems, and the Centre believes that working with horses provides a unique motivation for behaviour modification, and they have a successful record. Other students with autism, cerebral palsy and Downs syndrome also benefit from the therapy.
It is the only full-time riding therapy centre in NZ.
This year one of the horses died, and two more horses are due to retire. The $10,000 will be used to purchase two new horses to work with the kids.
Read more about it here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10617124
On the eleventh day of Christmas... Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Whakarewarewa Village Charitable Trust.
Whakarewarewa Village Charitable Trust provides tourism and educational experiences through a living Maori village in Rotorua where geothermal resources are still used for cooking and bathing.
The $10,000 from the 12 Days of Christmas will be used to develop an online and onsite educational resource for schools and teachers to use before, during and after a trip to Whakarewarewa. These resources will meet education curriculum standards for geography, arts, economic development, social development and science.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10617309
On the twelfth day of Christmas... Auckland Airport gave $10,000 to Gateway 950 Trust.
Gateway 950 trust is an independent pentecostal christian service located in the heart of Hamilton city. The trust provides the behind the scenes support for a community centre - overseeing Wednesday night meals, the op shop and support groups that are run out of the community centre.
The $10,000 from the 12 Days of Christmas will be used to fund 20 weeks' worth of meals, including the final meal of the year, Christmas dinner
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/christmas/news/article.cfm?c_id=1500988&objectid=10617310&pnum=1