A security monitoring company is helping local eateries and hospitality businesses in Whanganui get back on their feet during alert level 3.
Alarm Watch is using its Facebook page to give away vouchers to local food businesses for the next 30 days to help them recover from the strict level 4 lockdown, which lasted more than a month.
Alarm Watch general manager Wade Coneybeer said their business had been largely unaffected by the lockdown.
"We considered ourselves lucky and wanted to spread the love," he said.
Each day, Alarm Watch will be promoting a different restaurant with a giveaway voucher on its Facebook page.
"The idea is that, to win, the user must share the post on their own wall."
Coneybeer said they had spent thousands on vouchers for local businesses, with more than 35 restaurants involved in the cause. He said they wanted to stay away from big chain restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King and focus on small businesses.
"We acknowledge that they are locally run but think they have the brand and horsepower behind them to bounce back. We want to use our current following to promote local businesses to get exposure to an audience that they might not have had prior."
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
Coneybeer hopes more businesses who can, will jump in on the initiative, if possible.
"It has been great communicating with all of these business owners at a time like this – they have been so appreciative.
"I'd love to see other businesses who are in fortunate positions run this promotion. They could do the same or they could do it for other industries. Let's keep it going."
Coneybeer was thankful to Alarm Watch owners Neil and John Campbell for funding it.
"I don't know if those two farmers have the internet so they will probably find out about this when they read the Chronicle, if that's the case, Thank you, Neil and John."
Comment: Planting a range of trees will give fruit at different times of the year.