Tauranga grandfather donates all his furniture to homeless support service

An 86-year-old who moved to Australia has gifted most of his worldly belongings, including high-quality furniture, to the homeless.

Bill Prentice was living alone at Greenwood Park Retirement Village in Tauranga but moved to the Sunshine Coast earlier this year to live with his daughter Melanie Anderson because of health reasons.

The family could have sold the goods, but decided to donate all of the furniture to Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust in the hope they could "make a difference" to a whānau in need.

"We just want to make a difference to a kid's life," Anderson said.

Anderson visited her father in April and was "shocked" to see how he had deteriorated during the Covid lockdown.

"I just said, you are coming back to Australia."

Prentice went to Australia with her in May, but about two weeks ago, he made the decision not to return to Tauranga.

Anderson flew to New Zealand on Monday to start clearing the unit and contacted Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust to donate his furniture. This included a fridge, couches, washing machine, dining table, chairs, a bed and a desk.

Anderson said it was "so important" the furniture would go to a family in need.

"I just think people need to realise what is one person's trash is another person's treasure.

"It's no use to us - let someone else get some enjoyment from it now."

Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust chief imagination officer Tommy Wilson. Photo / George Novak

Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust chief imagination officer Tommy Wilson said he got a call from the family as they no longer needed the furniture.

"We came in and there is a beautiful unit full of wonderful furniture.

"For us, that just shows the community cares. Just like our homeless need to know we care, it is wonderful that we at the frontline know our community cares."

Wilson said the furniture would initially go into storage sheds.

"The next house we start up, we move the furniture into that house and then we keep starting up houses.

"Getting a home is one thing but then furnishing it, and also people that are working poor that are in homes with very little furniture - they don't have a budget to go and buy a washing machine, or an oven or a couple of nice couches.

"To be able to take them a nice lounge suite or a fridge that works, that is huge. That is a game changer for them."

But Wilson said the donation represented "the other side of the cultural coin".

Wilson said he believed Tauranga had a perception ''a little bit that it's been stale, male and pale'' and had been linked to instances of racism.

"Here's another side - these are non-Māori people that are giving ... our staff is 95 per cent Māori so there's the other side of the cultural coin that needs to be told.

"Kindness is a currency that I think we undervalue - you add a bit of kai and a bit of koha and the community can fix up anything. That's what we're seeing here."

Baldy, left, and Karl Goldsbury, right, work for Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust and helped move the furniture. Photo / Mead Norton

Baldy, who would only be known by his first name, and Karl Goldsbury work for Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust and helped move the furniture.

Goldsbury said: "It is good that people like this are willing to give because there are plenty of people out there that can't afford these kinds of things."

He said it was "high-quality" furniture that families in need would be able to get for free.

Baldy said it was great that people were "kind and giving for others that are less fortunate".

"Heaps of people need it - the more you can get, the more families we can help out."