Egg-ceptional: Giant 1.5kg Easter egg the prize for Kai Rotorua’s Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea

Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea (left) was nominated as a 'good egg' in the Trade Aid Good Egg Easter competition and won a 1.5kg Easter egg. He is pictured with Kelly Mcghan from Trade Aid Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner

Trade Aid stores around the country put the call out for nominations of egg-ceptional people who go the egg-xtra mile, set great egg-xamples, and show community spirit.

And the prize? A giant 1.5kg Easter egg.

One nomination per Trade Aid store was chosen to win the giant Easter egg, and in Rotorua the winner was Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea.

Trade Aid’s Good Egg Easter Competition was about nominating people in communities who are a ‘good egg’ - a person who shows that community spirit is alive and well.

His nominee was Jill Walker, who noted on the entry: “For his total dedication to teaching/sharing knowledge in our community garden (Kai Rotorua).”

She had just attended one of Kai Rotorua’s kumara planting workshops.

Te Rangikaheke is Kai Rotorua’s projects manager, and says he was elated and blown away to be the winner of the Good Egg competition.

“It was a wonderful feeling, it was a wonderful gesture, and was fantastic to be nominated. It’s a massive Easter tell ya!”

He says Trade Aid is a fantastic organisation that does great work right across the globe, and so it was special to receive this recognition of the work Kai Rotorua does in the community.

Te Rangikaheke says EnviroHub Bay of Plenty’s Sustainable Backyards calendar of events was held throughout the month of March, and Kai Rotorua has been participating in this for a number of years doing kumara planting demonstrations at Te Puea Orchard.

“This year the demonstration happened to coincide with April 1, and a fantastic show of people turned up and through that Kai Rotorua were nominated.”

He says the giant Easter egg will be brought out and shared at an upcoming workshop.

Kai Rotorua has just finished its kumara harvesting, and Te Rangikaheke says some of the harvest will be used in the early morning Matariki umu kohukohu whetū celebration in July.

Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea, co-founder of Kai Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner