Louisa Tipene Opetaia and her niece Terangihaukaha Mosese at Pak'nSave Mangere. Photo / Rain Te’i
One lady's Breast cancer street appeal caught the eyes of shoppers at a South Auckland Pak'nSave.
On Friday Louisa Tipene Opetaia, her daughter Rain Te'i and niece Terangihaukaha Mosese took a few hours out of their day to help gather money.
However on the day Terangihaukaha wasn't too keen to go unless she could wear her roller skates.
"It turned into a good thing; people found it interesting" Tipene Opetaia said.
Which Tipene Opetaia said became a "good conversation starter".
While skating around and outside the Mangere Pak'nSave, shoppers would spot the trio and come investigate what was going on.
Because she says a grown woman on roller skates is not a thing you would see every day.
"I could see people had the heart for the kaupapa," she told the Herald.
After her mother passed away of breast cancer in 2017, Tipene Opetaia has done the street appeal for three years.
She brings her daughter and niece along to help as "a way to normalise talking about health and honouring their grandmother".
The trio received a lot of attention and donations throughout the day.
She mentioned that this appeal she noticed donations were lower compared to other years due to the fact people no longer carry change with them.
She suggested the street appeal will need to adapt to how people are moving away from cash and into cards.
The breast cancer street appeal ran from Friday to yesterday, and volunteers would give a few hours of the day to collect money from New Zealanders.
The money raised for the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ helps those affected by breast cancer.
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