As a community, we were blessed to be in a position to help many in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle. Whether it was through the provision of food and power at All Saints', providing resources and financial support the Parents' League in Puketapu, through a more active role in the support and distribution of funds in Pākowhai, or the opening of spaces to support, wellness, community and healing initiatives, we have been able to utilise the strengths we have to address short and medium term needs.
It is in the community of Pākowhai where a more ongoing work has been undertaken. As a community that was almost completely displaced by the floods that followed Gabrielle, there was little infrastructure or community organisation to pull together the structures needed to get funding to the people. As a church, we partnered with the Pākowhai funding committee to help make that possible - utilising our role as a charity with a broad remit to support the wellbeing of communities to undertake a wide range of work. That relationship has helped to see $722,843.63 worth of grants and donations invested back into Pākowhai from a wide range of sources.
The most significant grants paid out by the funding committee have been direct grants to residents totalling $432,500 and the installation of several CCTV sites that have significantly improved the sense and reality of safety and protection in the Pākowhai area ($116,330.05 worth of CCTV install). Outside of this, funds have been used to support petrol purchases, community gatherings and events, the refurbishment of the Pākowhai War Memorial Hall and local community watch programmes.
It has been a privilege to serve with the funding committee and to support them through the structures of our church to bring hope and new possibilities to those who were so heavily affected by Gabrielle.
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