Kidicorp communications manger Rachel D'Cruz clearly didn't know what she was getting into when she met the Kidicorp team at Greenpark School in Tauranga this morning for breakfast with the teams on the Variety Trillian Bash. Many of the fire engines in the convoy have fully working tanks and hoses, and her team packs goggles at all times. Would sunglasses do, she asked hopefully? No...
Truck owner Morris 'Moo' Danks bought the bright-blue 1981 V8 petrol fire truck five years ago, and first joined the Bash in 2012 with another team. "I loved the passion of the other Bashers, and it's rewarding to meet kids we help, and hear their stories of overcoming adversity," Moo says. His team seems to fluctuate in size - the crews on the fire engines often swap tenders - but pulling up at a school they are a well-oiled team, grabbing the rag dolls they'll give to the littlies, the Kidicorp-themed balloons and wrist bands and working the crowd, or providing entertainment by engaging other fire tenders in battle.
Many teams are self-funded or are sponsored by local businesses - this crew follows a national network and soften divert to call in at Kidicorp childcare centres en route, some of which use their visit to explain to their kids the concept of helping others by raising their own donations.
The fire engines stayed dry at Greenpark, but at Tari O Te Mohere O Matakana Kohanga Reo on Matakana island, where the Variety Bash teams spent two hours on a working bee and Ford's Toy Story team handed over Disney goodies, it was a different matter, and the famous FOAM truck cranked up its pumps.
