$10k boost for farmer recovery fund

STRESS RELIEF: Workwear launderers Apparelmaster have donated $10,000 to the Gisborne Tairāwhiti Farmer Recovery Fund. Pictured at the Apparelmaster Gisborne branch are, from left, Apparelmaster NZ managing director Bevan Ritchie; Jen Mildenhall, BDO associate, who administers the farmer recovery fund, and Martin Jakicevich, Gisborne Laundry Service Apparelmaster managing director.Picture supplied

The Apparelmaster Group, which provides laundered workwear solutions across New Zealand, has donated $10,000 to support the rural cyclone recovery here.

Apparelmaster New Zealand managing director Bevan Ritchie said the company put together a fund to assist in the Cyclone Gabriel recovery effort and the Apparelmaster team and its suppliers raised $23,500.

“The money was initially to be used for our staff affected directly by the cyclone but it turned out there weren’t too many badly affected by way of loss of property, vehicles, pets etcetera.

“What we did discover, however, was that they had all been suffering mentally in one way or another. Many had families in tough situations, and all had been required to work longer hours to get the laundry through, often under difficult circumstances (lack of power, water, roads closed etcetera), all quite stressful.

“We decided then that a staff appreciation lunch would be a good thing to help boost moral of those staff in Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and Taupo.

“We did the first one of these lunches on Wednesday, at Apparelmaster Gisborne, and we have two more planned in the next two weeks, at Diamond Apparelmaster in Whakatu, and Permaclean Apparelmaster in Taupo.

“This obviously leaves us with funds left over, so we have decided to look for two local charities that need a boost. We wanted charities that were not mainstream and where the funds donated would go directly to those in need and where no admin fees would be paid.

“We found just such an organisation in Gisborne this week, where the farmers have been hit hard. The Gisborne Tairāwhiti Farmer Recovery Fund are perfect candidates. The fund is administered by Jen Mildenhall of BDO, who are donating their expertise and time at no cost. It is a very worthy cause and one that we are very happy to donate $10,000 to.”

Recovery fund coordinator Jen Mildenhall said it was “super awesome” to receive the donation.

“The whole story of it is pretty cool and they have some awesome connections to the agricultural industry so it’s really exciting.”

The fund had now raised about $30,000, all of which would go to farmers and people in the rural sector who needed it the most.

Applicants would be assessed via the MPI surveys, which can be found at this address https://tinyurl.com/2b5kef8z

The Gisborne Tairāwhiti Farmer Recovery Fund will contact farmers directly.

For further information contact Jen Mildenhall at 027 410 0773.

■   The Gisborne Tairāwhiti Farming Recovery Fund was established by Mātai Medical Research Institute in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.