Last year I got the satisfaction of seeing the flipside of a stalled project – being part of the crew that gave it a boost, right through to completion, as part of the Rabobank Good Deeds promotion.
Long-lasting benefits
Take it from me – there's nothing quite like the joy of driving along a small rural road, rocking up to a small country school, with a wad of cash in my back pocket and knowledge there's a couple of ute-loads of eager Rabobank staff right behind me, all set to make a difference in that small community. A difference that will last for years to come.
I'd travelled to Wairarapa's Whareama Primary School, where seven student-led values-based projects including a BMX track, outdoor classroom, in-ground trampoline and raised garden beds to grow fruit and vegetables had stalled through a lack of funding and labour force.
The smiles on the childrens' faces as they saw their projects coming to fruition, then even bigger smiles as their projects reached completion some six to seven months after commencing, was incredible. Not to mention the smiles (very much tinged with relief) on the teachers' and parent helpers' faces too.
"There's only so many sausage sizzles you can run in a small community" they told me.
Chief Executive of Rabobank New Zealand Todd Charteris echoed the sentiment. "In small communities, often it's the same people being approached for sponsorship, the same people putting up their hands to help out. We just wanted to widen that avenue for funding and support".
In 2017, the Hakataramea Sustainability Collective in North Otago got support to transform a once-loved riverside picnic area back into a state where it could again be enjoyed by visitors and locals alike. Recently, an accident on the Waitaki Bridge saw a diversion up and through Kurow, so my carload of friends and I got to enjoy a picnic in this very spot.
Helping rural communities
This year, the Dargaville Primary School Garden Club was selected as the winner of the Good Deeds promotion and received $3,000 plus a day's labour support.
Coming back to that earlier point about a lack of available funding pools, Rabobank mixed things up a bit to help more rural communities, and so two second prizes of $1,000 cash and labour support were also awarded to Kiwitea School in Manawatu and Kekerengu Community Centre in North Canterbury.
My workmate Sam Casey (Lashes) drew the lucky straw this time around instead of me and I was devastated – something Charteris can understand.
"Creating a mechanism where our staff could help too was really important when we were coming up with the Good Deeds concept. There's not many people I know who don't want to help others – it's so rewarding. I get excited by that and I know the teams do too. They genuinely want to give back to the communities that they live in – it's an important component of who we are".
When Lashes returned to Dunedin he, like me, raved about the experience.
"It was great. So much fun getting to do something different that put a smile on the kids' faces, all while making their time at school a lot more enjoyable and teaching them valuable skills that will help their whole lives".
For Charteris, Dargaville Primary School's Garden Club project, hit really close to home.
"As a food and agribusiness banking specialist, we think it's really important that more is done to increase children's understanding of where the food they eat comes from and how it is produced. The garden club is a great initiative that does just this and we're thrilled to be able to provide the club with some funds and labour support so that more children at the school are able to learn about growing and cooking food".
So even though Lashes informed us he'd taken up more of a "supervisory role" in Dargaville (confirming my strongly held belief they'd have had twice as much work out of Jamie Mackay or myself), he is the one person on The Country team who cooks broccoli and makes a salad for himself every lunchtime as soon as we get off air.
Hopefully some of the children's gardening skills will rub off on him after all and our newly established mini-garden on the balcony at work doesn't become another one of my unfinished projects with potential.
As for all the other amazing entries this year, Charteris has distributed the list through Rabobank's staff network and encouraged them to make contact with the projects in their area and to utilise their annual community leave day to support these.
He's also indicated Rabobank is keen to continue with this initiative in 2020 and to support more worthy local community projects throughout the country.
Bags me getting to go, not Lashes.
- Join Rowena every weekday from 5–6am on The Country Early Edition on Radio Sport and Hokonui, and with Jamie Mackay on The Country every weekday from 12pm on NewstalkZB, Radio Sport and Hokonui.
