Rural Women join La Fiesta

Whanganui Midweek·

6 Feb, 2023 07:35 PM3 mins to read

Rural women Leonora Spark (left) and Paula Vincent are part of the team running a film night during La Fiesta. Photo / Paul Brooks

By Paul Brooks

On Thursday, February 16, at Embassy 3 Cinema, Rural Women NZ presents a movie fundraiser as part of La Fiesta. The film is called Edie, and it’s about a woman who finds freedom after the death of her abusive husband.

“We’ve got the 120-seater cinema,” says president of the Fordell / Mangamahu branch, Paula Vincent. “This is in aid of our branch’s education fund. We fundraise towards this to help children heading off to secondary school in our rural cluster.” She says it can help finance technology — laptops or devices — or school uniforms.

The rural cluster takes in eight schools in the eastern outlying areas of Whanganui.

“They get a chance while they’re in Year 8 to apply.” Application forms are distributed to the principals of the schools, and they are handed out to students to take home to their families. “If they feel they need help in that area,” says Paula. “Last year we were able to help nine families.” She says it makes them feel good about making a new start with the right uniform or a new piece of essential technology.

Committee member — and rural postie — Leonora Spark explained how the fund has its origins when a house, formerly used to accommodate rural women coming into Whanganui, was sold and the proceeds invested. The drop in interest rates has meant the group has had to take on fundraising projects to top it up.

This latest fundraiser has a ticket price of $20 per person, entitling the ticket holder to partake of refreshments before the film.

“All our committee members are doing a plate, so there will be some nice, home-made nibbles and we’ve got spot prizes. We’ve been busy hunting down retailers and they’ve given us some amazing prizes,” says Paula.

“We’ve had some great support,” says Leonora.

“We’ve had enough support to enable us to have five raffles as well,” says Paula. A sponsorship board at the cinema will detail where the support came from.

Paula and Leonora say Embassy Three have been very helpful and easy to work with. This is not the first time Rural Women have been associated with La Fiesta and they are hoping it will help raise their profile.

Rural Women help communities in many ways, including their latest drive to make fruitcakes and send them to rural families on the East Coast, suffering after Cyclone Hale hit the area last month.