Charity ball to help cyclone-affected farmers the flood affected

Gladrags and gumboots are the order of the day for Georgia Denton as she prepares for a fundraising ball for cyclone-affected farmers and growers. Picture supplied

Hawke’s Bay woman Georgia Denton and Tremains Hawke’s Bay are to stage a ball in early October to raise funds to support cyclone-affected farmers in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti.

It will be held in Hastings at the Cheval Room (300 Prospect Road) on October 7.

Ms Denton, who works for the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, was helping on the phones for the bay’s Civil Defence team, receiving calls from people needing help during Cyclone Gabrielle.

“We had calls from farmers with no way in or out running out of food, petrol for generators and water.

“It really hit home for me as I can relate to them, thinking my parents were probably in the same situation,” she said.

“It can be quite isolating living out in the country let alone with a state of emergency and wondering if people will be coming to help.

“Following on from that a colleague at work was telling me that in Hawke’s Bay alone there was hundreds of thousands of dollars damage on farms for fencing alone, not even including slips or anything.

“This made me think that if this was the new reality for Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne farmers, how were they meant to cope and recover?

“I decided to do a charity gala ball as a good way to bring a lot of people together and to raise money for rural landowners affected by the cyclone in our two regions.”

Ms Denton began contacting different businesses to see if they would be sponsors for the event.

“Kiki Abel from Tremains wrote back and was keen to partner together on the event and now we are organising this event together, alongside some of her work colleagues from Tremains.

“I got in touch with Jonathan Bell from Rural Support Trust (RST) and told him about the event.

“I wanted the money to go to the RST as they are already an established organisation helping rural communities. It was a no-brainer the money should go to them.

“We decided that this money will be best used to support farmers and growers’ mental health and wellbeing.

“It will be a pool of money available to these people if they need to speak to someone, and ultimately look after themselves so they can be in the right head space to continue on the road to recovery for their land, which is of course already very long.

“I wanted the money raised to support Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay as both regions were equally as affected, in my eyes.”

Ms Denton said her hope was that people will see this event as an opportunity to celebrate how resilient the rural communities are and recognise what they have gone through.

“Also to support them and encourage them that its OK to not be OK and that there is help there for when you need it.”

“Old and young, the gala ball is a public event and anyone is welcome to come.

“It’s important to take a break if things get too tough and to look after yourself. That’s the most important thing, so I hope this event can help achieve that.”

■ Tickets are on sale now at www.eventfinda.co.nz/2023/rural-support-trust-gala-2023/hastings