Support and more than $5000 in donations have poured in for Moerewa's burgled butcher, who says he is "absolutely amazed" by the response.
Greg 'Jacko' Jackson, the owner of Jacko's Discount Meats, turned up at his Moerewa store last week Wednesday to find burglars had smashed through the back wall and emptied his store of meat worth $6000. They also took his knives and cash.
Mr Jackson said it was the third raid on his store in three years, making him wonder if he'd be better off on the dole. Since then, however, his faith in humanity had been restored by a flood of donations and support.
His daughter Jaime Page-Wood, a teacher aide in Albany, set up a Givealittle page saying she couldn't bear to see a hard-working man ruined by thieves. She said her father provided the town with a good service and urged donors to help his business back onto its feet.
As of noon yesterday 111 people had donated a total of $5149. She had even been contacted by ex-pat Kiwi Tim Yee, now the general manager of a Singapore firm which imports chef's equipment, who said he had read the Advocate story about Mr Jackson's predicament and wanted to help. He offered to ship a replacement set of knives from Germany to Moerewa.
