Pirongia sisters selling arts and crafts to raise funds for Starship Hospital

Sisters Ruby (left) and Amy Webb are selling their crafts at the Pirongia Market to raise money for Starship Hospital where their friend is undergoing treatment for leukaemia. Photo / Caitlan Johnston

Ruby, 9, and Amy, 7, Webb, two sisters from Pirongia, have been crafting away to raise funds for Starship Hospital where one of their friends, Isla, is undergoing treatment for leukemia.

The girls have made seashell necklaces, knitted hanging hearts, loom band bracelets, loom band stress relievers and origami butterflies to sell for a donation.

They will have a stall set up at the Pirongia Market this Sunday at the Pirongia Community Centre on Crozier St.

"We've got a friend in Starship and we thought it'd be a great idea to help raise some funds to get her treatment," says Ruby.

"And we thought it'd be a great donation for all the other kids there too."

They learnt how to make their crafts from another stallholder at the market, Jan of Jansfelts NZ, says their mum Ruth.

"They were invited over on the holidays and she taught them how to make these things," says Ruth.

The girls will also be selling vinyl mugs which are being made by a friend's mum. They are also hoping to sell some gingerbread biscuits and to have a lucky dip.

The market runs from 9am to 2pm and their store will be inside the community hall.

Isla is just 4 years old and was diagnosed with leukaemia about nine months ago.

She has been in and out of Starship to get her treatments since the end of the Covid-19 lockdown in March last year.

"She is suffering and going through a lot of pain and she's only 4 years old, it makes feel really sad," says Ruby.

The wider Pirongia community has also come together to help the family out with meals.

"Isla's mum is up at the hospital with her and her dad has been here looking after her siblings. So to save them from having to think about dinner each night there's been a roster done by Playcentre parents, the PTA and the school," says Ruth.

The dinner meals get left in a chilly bin at the front door of the family's home.

The girl's fundraiser will also earn them their community service badge from their rally group.

"We'll be supporting our friend while trying to get our badge," says Amy.