Ronda Amende (centre) from the TimeOut Charitable Trust - with her daughter-in-law Britney, son Hunter and their daughter 10-month-old Lyra - enjoys family time together even more now after having experienced what it was like to be given a weekend away when she was going through chemo. Photo / Greg Bowker
Ronda Amende (centre) from the TimeOut Charitable Trust - with her daughter-in-law Britney, son Hunter and their daughter 10-month-old Lyra - enjoys family time together even more now after having experienced what it was like to be given a weekend away when she was going through chemo. Photo / Greg Bowker
The Herald is profiling 12 charities awarded $12,000 each from Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas campaign. Each grant is made up of $10,000 donated by generous travellers who placed unwanted currency into money boxes dotted around the airport’s terminals in 2023, and as a cherry on top, Auckland Airport has gifted each charity an additional $2000.
Ronda Amende knows what a gift a few days away with family can be if you are terminally ill.
When she was diagnosed with a rare cancer 10 years ago, a friend offered her the use of a holiday home on the Coromandel.
“It was such a hard time. I had just started chemo and I wasn’t sure if it was working, and I had gone from full-time work to not being able to work at all and wondering if we could keep our family home. Meanwhile, our kids were going through exams, so it was just a whirlwind of emotions at home,” she says.
“We went away and just had time together as a family. It really meant a lot that we were able to connect again and be able to find some strength so when we did return home from holiday, we were able to have some of the tough conversations we needed to have.
“I’m 10 years down the track now and when I look back at that experience it stands out as one of the precious moments and experiences we have had together.”
When she was well enough, Ronda knew she had to start TimeOut, a charity that connects early-stage terminally ill patients (those who receive a diagnosis before their expected lifespan) with holiday homeowners willing to gift an experience that creates precious time for whanau to be together.
“The financial burden of terminal illness, with loss of income, and the cost of treatment, creates additional stress on families so when you get a diagnosis, going away with your family is usually the last thing you would think to do.
TimeOut is now able to offer more families who have someone with a terminal illness time in holiday homes thanks to a grant from Auckland Airport. Photo / Greg Bowker
“But resting and recharging is so important because what is happening in their home is very charged and stressful and at the end of the day, the connections and memories we have are the most important thing we have.”
Amende says holiday homeowners value the opportunity to share with another family what they have the privilege to have.
“It’s a very Kiwi thing to do to spend time in a holiday home so TimeOut resonates with Kiwis from a community perspective.”
About 200 terminally ill patients have been referred to TimeOut this year, a 38 per cent increase since 2022, with $148,444 of value gifted to terminally ill patients in holiday homestays.
This Christmas, Timeout is getting an extra boost to help extend its services to South Auckland communities through the Auckland Airport Twelve Days of Christmas campaign.
It’s one of 12 charities being gifted $10,000 from the donations of generous travellers who placed spare foreign currency into moneyboxes dotted around the airport terminal. As a cherry on top, Auckland Airport has gifted an additional $2000 per grant, bringing the total to 12,000.
Auckland Airport’s chief corporate services officer Melanie Dooney says TimeOut will work with Tōtara Hospice in Manurewa for referrals and match 20 terminally ill patients from South Auckland communities with a holiday home and provide petrol and food vouchers to go with it.
“Giving a bit extra with travel and food vouchers makes a huge difference, and by helping ease some of the pressure, more families will take up the opportunity when they may have thought twice due to those extra costs,” Dooney says.
