We would like to take a moment to thank you for the support and generosity you showed Middlemore Foundation during a challenging but rewarding year. Our South Auckland community has struggled more than ever before, but through passion we have worked together to help those in need and come out on top, creating positive health outcomes for as many whaanau as possible.
We would like to thank each and everyone of you for your time and support in 2020. Below are some of our highlights of 2020 that would not have been possible without your support.
2020 Highlights
Jammies in June
Jammies in June was different this year but we are so grateful for all of our wonderful donors and suppliers who helped keep our tamariki warm this winter, even with the barriers we faced. We managed to raise a total of $25,000 to go towards pyjamas, blankets, socks, dressing gowns and underwear. We also had over 11,000 PJs and blankets donated in kind.
For some children, these pyjamas or socks are the first new piece of clothing they have ever owned in their life. With your help, we have kept our community warm and prevented them from being admitted to hospital with respiratory diseases. Thank you so much to everyone who got involved, we cannot wait to do this all again next year.
Masks for the Community
We put an urgent call out to the New Zealand public to make masks to help keep our vulnerable families in South Auckland safe as the second wave of COVID-19 hit the heart of our community. Masks became compulsory on public transport in Auckland, so we needed to act fast and supply whaanau and rangitahi who rely heavily on public transport with masks as soon as possible.
We are grateful for every individual, organisation and family who took their time to create or donate a mask. We have continued this campaign as we can never be sure what virus could arise in the community and it is always safe to carry a mask, particularly when using public transport. We can proudly say we have managed to give over 100,000 reusable and disposable masks to our community. Thank you for your ongoing support towards this important campaign, you help keep our community safe.
Te Maara Kai O Wirihana
After a year of developing the Manurewa Community Garden, the kai is thriving! This community-led initiative is the product of a collaboration between Manurewa High School, Middlemore Foundation and Counties Manukau Health to provide the Manurewa community with healthy and nutritious kai in line with sustainable climate change ready principles.
After a year of developing Te Maara we are proudly producing strawberries, broccoli, parsley, lettuce, spring onion, silver beet, kale and fruit trees. We would like to thank the Trusts who have seen the potential of this garden and funded equipment for it, our volunteers who have worked tirelessly to maintain the garden and the community and students for purchasing this food at a low cost.
We are excited for the new year, where we will begin publicising the garden to Manurewa and having more community engagement.
Grant Applications
We had a very successful year with our grant applications and would like to say a special thank you to all of the Trusts who have supported us including Dragon Community Trust, Four Winds Foundation, BlueSky Community Trust, Auckland Council, Auckland Airport, The Trusts Community Foundation and more for supporting our community initiatives and for helping fund essential clinical equipment for those in need. A major funder we would like to thank is Sky City Auckland Community Trust for donating us an astonishing $150,000.
We are also very grateful to have received funding from Dragon Community Trust and BlueSky Community Trust for 3 Scoots for children who have a physical disability to provide them with an accessible form of mobility. These Scoots will be used by Kidz First Community Health during a child’s transition period between a buggy and a self-propel wheelchair, for those children that will be full-time wheelchair users, have Spina Bifida or Cerebral Palsy. The mobility scoot is used as a training tool to help vulnerable children grow and socialise with other children in their age group.
Thank you to both these Trusts for funding this essential, clinical equipment and changing the lives of many children who are less able.
Silent Auction
Our annual Barfoot & Thompson Family Fun Day had to be cancelled due to COVID-19, but because we had so many amazing sponsors and prizes, we turned this into an online Silent Auction, so everyone could participate from the comfort of their homes during lockdown! Some of our prizes included a signed All Blacks jersey, signed boxing gloves from Joseph Parker, a facial, winery tours and more!
Thank you to our amazing sponsors and our incredible donors who joined the auction. We were able to raise $5,531 which went directly to Kidz First Children’s Hospital and Starship Hospital.
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