IHC annual appeal - send a gift, change a life

Sophie Tuenter 10 and Gwen Kirkwood 83, met in a kitchen in Matamata over a basin of pink icing – all in a good cause.

Two of IHC's stars have joined forces - and their birthday wishes - to ask Kiwis to donate money to make lives better for people with intellectual disabilities.

Gwen Kirkwood and Sophie Tuenter, who share birthdays on 8 February, are calling for people to support the IHC Annual Appeal which started on Sunday 13 February.

To donate, go online at ihc.org.nz, call 0900 44 900 to make a $20 donation or post a donation to IHC, PO Box 1757, Wellington.

Gwen, 83, is one of IHC's dedicated team of fundraisers. She has been raising money in Matamata for more than 40 years. She ran the local appeal for 37 years and marshalled the collectors. And for 30 years, Gwen organised a caravan that was parked by the Post Office from where volunteers sold cakes and jam. She still runs the 'Op Shop' today.

Sophie, 10 lives with her parents and two teenage sisters in Massey, West Auckland. Sophie was the 'poster girl' for the 2009 IHC 'Take a Moment' television advertising campaign and is featured in the 'Take a Moment With Us' multimedia exhibition now showing at Canterbury Museum.

Sophie loves cooking and baking, so it seemed natural for the pair to meet up over some cake and pink icing in the kitchen where Gwen has baked so many cakes for the cause.

For years Gwen and fellow volunteers have baked cakes, made jam, pickled onions and collected bric-a brac to sell in Op Shops to pay for that extra help for people that government funding can't meet.

But sometimes it's easier to say 'Please, can you help us'? These days we don't expect anyone to peel onions, or go door-door for IHC, but we still need people to dig in those wallets and keep faith with the work that these volunteers have done for so long.

"We do things differently now," Gwen says. "There are so many good causes and you have to realise that people can't give to everything. But some things don't change. People with intellectual disabilities, like Sophie, need our help now as much as they always have."