Prior to the start of Lockdown, which seems a long time ago now, we put together "Kete Tiaki" and delivered to all our kaumatua in the rohe. The kete included a "Kia Mataara" form with essential information to be left in a prominent place, e.g. the fridge, just in case a visitor needed to get help in an emergency. We also used this as an opportunity to check in with whānau to see how their preparations for Lockdown were going.
Every week since then we have been checking in with whānau and families by delivering more than 300 grocery parcels, 87 loads of firewood, over 600 hygiene packs, nearly 300 fruit and vegetable packs, care packages and emergency items. The latter included furniture and clothing for visitors trapped in the Tararua by the level four alert. We even paid doctors' bills and power accounts to keep our kaumatua well and warm.
We've hosted three community drive-through flu vaccination clinics in collaboration with ThinkHauora and Tararua Health Group, and are looking to host one in Woodville with the community there.
Over the past few weeks we've had more than 2000 contacts with people across the Tararua District. This extended into every settlement as far as Takapau and Norsewood in the north to Pongaroa and Akitio in the east and Eketāhuna and Pahiatua in the south.
