Editorial: You can give hope to all in need

Hawke's Bay Today has launched the Limitless Hope Emergency Shelter Appeal to support the work being done by Kevin and Kiri Swannell.

There is nothing the team at Hawke's Bay Today loves more than getting behind a worthy cause and encouraging our readers to support the good that is being done in our community.

While we believe it is important that we cover the news in Hawke's Bay - good or bad - we do really enjoy supporting fantastic people quietly going about trying to improve the lives of others.

There are not many more worthy causes than the work being done by Kevin and Kiri Swannell, who give up their time to help the homeless and those in need. We first came into contact with the Swannells when we did stories on the mobile soup kitchen the family ran for the homeless in Clive Square. They were also the regional winners of the Pride of New Zealand Community Spirit Award last year for their work.

Early this month, we had a story in the paper about Property Brokers donating a 240sq m building on St Aubyn St West, used by the business for the past 20 years, to the Swannells for use as a shelter - provided it could be relocated within a reasonable time frame.

This is where Hawke's Bay Today has decided to help out. We are running a campaign, Limitless Hope Emergency Shelter Appeal, calling on our readers to help this amazing couple.

Congratulations to Paul Whitaker and the team at Property Brokers for donating the house, which is quite an impressive structure. This is where it all started, but now it is time to build from there.

We know that our readers are very generous - they have proved it to us over the years by responding to our appeals.

Our story on page one of yesterday's paper lists everything needed to make this project happen. The most important thing is land to put the house on. But there is so much more you can contribute.

If you have some service you can provide, simply let us know and we will acknowledge your contribution in the paper. If you want to donate money - it does not matter how much, all will be gratefully received - go to givealittle.co.nz/limitlesshope. For more information, search the key words "Limitless Hope" on Facebook.

Come on readers, let's make this happen.