It looked like Dawn Robertson and her husband Peter were leaving home when they walked into the Northern Advocate office lugging suitcases and carrying boxes.
But, instead, the bags and boxes were filled with clothing and footwear they had collected and donated to an appeal to help residents of Vanuatu. It's been one month since Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu and the island's residents are still trying to clean up the devastation.
The event motivated Whangarei woman Gina Sammons and her family to launch an appeal for people to bring in bedding, clothing, and garden and building materials to the Northern Advocate to fill a container to be shipped to Vanuatu. On Tuesday the Ngunguru couple added their donations to the container.
Mrs Robertson has a close connection to Vanuatu and frequently holidays there. "I've been going for five years and staying a fortnight each time. I do aid work and health talks and upskilling. I go to a little wee island and you go on two little planes to get there and 3km of jungle, and you go into a little outboard boat and you have a man sit on the bow to watch for coral reefs."
Mrs Robertson said she was keen to help out with cyclone relief efforts and collected piles of clothing.
