Donors give $850k to Western Bay charities

Nicky Wilkins of the Acorn Foundation. File photo

More than $850,000 will be split between 126 Western Bay charitable groups in this year's Acorn Foundation funding distribution.

The amount is $70,000 more than what was given this time last year, bringing the total amount distributed since Acorn's inception in 2003 to $4.6 million.

Local emergency services will receive $53,000, including the Philips Search & Rescue Trust, Red Cross, St John, Tauranga Volunteer Coastguard and Te Puke Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Receiving funding for the first time is newly-established Bay Conservation Alliance, which provides a professional support team to largely volunteer-run ecological restoration or conservation community groups.

Some of this years "unrestricted" funds - where donors have been happy for the foundation to choose recipients - will go to new services that many people may not have heard of yet.

One such organisation is Safe Surfer, a new organisation started by two young IT professionals in Tauranga. The money will go towards improving their technology, which diverts home internet through a filter that stops people in the house accessing online pornography.

Another first-time recipient was Mockingbird Inc, a parent-led group providing a safe and supportive environment for children and youth affected by conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Obsessive Compulsive disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, and other conditions that can make successful participation in a normal school environment challenging.

Acorn Foundation general manager Nicky Wilkins said the foundation originally focussed on bequest giving, but more and more donors were doing regular gifting and building their fund during their lifetimes.

"For many this means they are already seeing the community benefiting from their generosity, which is very rewarding."

Donated funds were pooled and invested, and only the investment income is distributed each year so the capital pool would grow steadily over time.

This year's recipients of Acorn Foundation funding.