Woolworths hands out $250K for cyclone relief

Whāngārā farmer and Federated Farmers national meat and wool chairman Toby Williams organised today's Parliamentary Sports Day at Ngātapa to support cyclone-impacted farmers. He has expressed his thanks to Woolworths which has donated $100,000 to local mayoral relief and refencing and recovery funds and is also among the sponsors of the Sports Day.

Woolworths has today announced a $100,000 contribution to the Tairāwhiti Mayoral Relief Fund and Federated Farmers Gisborne/Wairoa refencing and recovery fund.

Each of those funds will receive $50,000.

A further $100,000 will go to the Hawke’s Bay Disaster Relief Trust and another $50,000 is being donated to the Rural Support Trust.

The $250,000 was donated to the Countdown Food for Good Trust by customers over the past year, including money specifically for cyclone and weather event relief.

“Our customers are incredibly generous and we are merely passing on their donations to these good causes,” Woolworths NZ managing director Spencer Sonn said.

“We know that the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle continues to be devastating for those affected, and the need for help will continue for years.

“We are so grateful to our customers for providing these funds and we are very happy the money can help with the ongoing recovery.”

Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz thanked Woolworths “for remembering our community in Tairāwhiti ... this donation to the Mayoral Relief Fund will be distributed to community-led initiatives that support wellbeing, connection, upskilling and resilience across our region.”

Gisborne-Wairoa Federated Farmers spokesman and Feds national Meat and Wool chairman Toby Williams said they were incredibly grateful.

“These customer donations will help farmers in Tairāwhiti to rebuild their fences.

“They won’t rebuild everything that was lost, but this will go some way to easing the burden that sheep and beef farmers here are feeling right now.”

A spokesman for the Hawke’s Bay Disaster Relief Trust said they were thrilled to receive their share of the funding.

“Our impacted communities are enduring a long road to recovery with some still living in temporary accommodation.”

Rural Support Trust spokesman Mike Green said the donation would allow the trust to continue to work closely alongside rural communities impacted by the adverse weather events last year.

Woolworths has also sponsored the Parliamentary Sports Day being staged today by Federated Farmers in Paddy’s Park at Ngātapa.

Around 25 Parliamentarians will play Federated Farmers selections in netball and rugby.

The Federated Farmers team have already raised close to $300,000 for cyclone relief through today’s event.

“As well as being a bit of fun, this is primarily about showing some support to East Coast farmers, who’ve copped more than their share of hardship in the past year,” Williams said.

The netball starts at 12.30pm. The rugby kicks off at 2pm.