Cyclone Gabrielle: Whanganui buddies up with Hastings in Adopt-a-Community campaign

Funds raised through the Whanganui Mayoral Relief Fund will go to the Hastings community. Photo / Paul Taylor

Whanganui District Council has been partnered with Hastings in a nationwide bid to boost communities hit by Cyclone Gabrielle through donations from other towns.

More than 30 councils have been paired with cyclone-stricken towns by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) in a fundraiser named the Adopt-a-Community campaign.

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said more discussions were needed with LGNZ to determine how Whanganui would support Hastings.

“I want to have a discussion with LGNZ to find out the appropriate way of supporting Hastings.”

Tripe said the Whanganui Mayoral Relief Fund had gained widespread support and had almost reached $40,000 in a week.

“We need to be cautious about how we use those funds so that the money isn’t wasted.”

Whanganui was originally paired with Whangarei, but Tripe said he asked for a change because of the closer connection Whanganui had to Hastings.

“From a response perspective, it didn’t make sense.”

LGNZ National Council member and Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan, who came up with the Adopt-a-Community scheme, said unaffected local councils wanted to “lend a helping hand”.

“It creates a direct connection with one of the badly affected communities.”

Cadogan said getting flooded communities back on their feet would take a lot of time and resources, so Adopt-a-Community would focus on more long-term responses.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint. That’s especially true with a disaster at this scale.”

The focus would be on financial support, as an excess of donated goods was sent to affected areas in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Cadogan said the direction of the money raised from donations to Adopt-a-Community would ultimately be decided by the mayors of adopted towns.

Tripe said he thought the Adopt-a-Community approach made sense, but he was cautious about how it would unfold.

“It means we can get behind another community and understand the real stories on the ground in Hastings.

“When we tell people exactly how it works, I think people will get behind it.”

Donations to the Whanganui Mayoral Relief Fund can be made by contributing to account number 01-0790-0157888-00 with the reference number ‘CG23′. All funds raised will go to Cyclone Gabrielle relief.