The donations from Bupa and the Fergusson Village residents to the New Zealand Disaster Fund come on top of local fundraising efforts from other Bupa care homes and villages around the country, including a case of knitted mitts and scarves from residents and community in Southland for Bupa’s Gladys Mary staff and residents in Napier.
Fergusson Retirement Village Co-ordinator Sheridan Yardley was amazed by the generosity of village residents who raised $6,000 in two days and grew the pot to $8,500 a week later.
“I’m humbled by our residents’ compassion and generosity. For a village of only 100 people, we raised a phenomenal amount. It’s great we could do our part to support those in need,” she says.
Sheridan says the residents wanted assurance their money was going to a fund that would contribute directly to the relief efforts.
“Like everyone at the village, I wanted to make sure the funds were going to the best place possible. Together with the Residents Committee Chair we decided that New Zealand Disaster Fund by New Zealand Red Cross was going to get everything we could raise so it could be put to good use,” she says.
Bupa Foundation Donation
Remarkably, Bupa’s villages, care homes and residents, in the Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti and other North Island regions suffered no significant damage during the cyclone, although superhuman efforts were required to get electricity and phones running, and ensure all residents were looked after round the clock.
Recognising the efforts of its people and residents to support each other and those in need, Bupa New Zealand – through the company’s Bupa Foundation – will also contribute $50,000 to the New Zealand Red Cross New Zealand Disaster Fund . Bupa’s Interim Managing Director Julie Sellar says, “Once we were certain we had supported our people and residents in cyclone affected areas, we turned our attention to how else we could help.
“The effects of Cyclone Gabrielle will be long lasting in the Northland, Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti regions and we hope this donation goes some way to supporting those who need it most,” she says.
In addition to the $50,000 donation, Bupa is also matching donations from its employees to the New Zealand Disaster Fund.
Bupa residents supporting those in need
Residents at Bupa Liston Heights Village also made a donation of $1570 to New Zealand Red Cross organised by their social committee, and Bupa Windsor Park Care Home residents in Gore knitted hand mitts and crocheted blankets for Bupa Gladys Mary Care Home residents in Napier.
The New Zealand Disaster Fund will be used by New Zealand Red Cross to support their work on the response and recovery to the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and the recent North Island floods. The fund supports affected communities by providing essential supplies such as stretchers, blankets, bedding, hygiene kits, deploying satellite phones, generators and other equipment, crucial psychosocial support and practical help to those who have been forced to leave their homes.
The fund will also be used to help New Zealand communities to prepare for, respond to and recover from future emergencies and disasters, whatever and whenever that may be.
The Bupa Foundation provides funding each year to grass-roots initiatives that help improve mental health, wellbeing or supports environmental sustainability in communities throughout New Zealand. In 2022, eight local organisations throughout New Zealand were selected to receive $10,000 grants.
