What the Aunties Did – September 2016

Over the last four weeks, this is what the Aunties have done with everyone’s donations of money and stuff…

We paid for a person to have counselling, and also spent $550 to fix a car that was vital for getting kids to school on the other side of the city from the safe place they are staying right now.

We paid the power and the phone bill for one of the women who is no longer in refuge and was in dire straits after having her benefit cut. Those kinds of pressures can sometimes lead to worse events so we felt it was right to step in and provide relief for her.

We also spent almost $1000 on food, and bought First Aid Kits for two refuges. And we’ve worked on building up our stockpile of kids’ clothes, sheets and towels, and socks; sourced some makeup for a teenager just arrived at refuge; and bought some hairbrushes.

When Aunty Jackie visits the refuge each week to chat with the women and find out what they need, she takes food with her to share. KFC is pretty popular. They’ve asked Aunty Jackie to let us all know how thankful they are that we’re out here doing this stuff, and that knowing people are thinking of them makes it all a bit a less lonely.

And October 1st was the annual “Pamper Day” for single mothers – they had make-up and nails done, and shoulder massages from volunteers. This is something Kris, who runs the refuge, organises once a year for women who have been in the refuge (and some who haven’t) while their kids are taken to Chipmunks for the day.

That’s a pretty nice list of “needs” and “wants” met for September by the Aunties. As always, we need to replenish funds so we can do more in October so PLEASE SHARE THIS with whanau and friends. Here’s the link for donations: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/kapawhaea/donations
Nga mihi nui,
The Aunties.

Thanks to you – your donations of dollars, and your donations of stuff – this is what the Aunties did this August.

When women leave unsafe places, they often leave with nothing. This month we were able to buy $1000 worth of Gift Cards to give to women in the Refuge (or who are leaving Refuge) to buy things they need from the Warehouse. And we bought $750 worth of Pak’n’Save vouchers to help women fill their cupboards when they leave Refuge, and for women in the community who have nothing and are finding it difficult to leave. We also helped some women to pay their power and phone bills, and another woman was able to get her door fixed.

One woman needed to get out of Auckland quickly and go to a safe city further south so we gave her $300 to help tide her over, and we got her some KFC for dinner before she left.

Something we feel particularly thrilled about is that, by collaborating with a very kind and generous dentist, we helped one of the women from Refuge get her teeth repaired. She now has the most remarkable smile. Costs were partly covered by ACC and then the dentist donated her time. Aunty Phil went with her to the appointments, and we sent a bunch of flowers to the dentist afterwards to say thank you. The refuge will be using this dentist from now on and we will cover any costs incurred. This need occurs only a few times a year.

Aunty Phil also visited WINZ with one of the women to advocate for her, and help her navigate those difficult waters with great success.

The Aunties made a contribution of $300 towards one of the women attending an Outward Bound course, and we bought a reconditioned laptop for a mother who is focused on getting back into work and needed a computer to do this. We also managed to find another second-hand laptop for Auntie Jackie so she can continue to do all the online stuff the Aunties requires.

And of course we bought food for the Refuge. We also spent $58 on mosaic tiles for the women’s art therapy, and summer seeds for the Refuge garden. And on Mondays, when Auntie Jackie visits the Refuge to talk with the women about what they need, she takes delicious treats with her to make it as much fun as possible. This is when Jackie gets those lists of things – the shoes, warm coats, duvets, rugby balls, hair-straighteners, knickers and so forth – that so many of you generously provide.

So those are some of the things you helped the Aunties do this August. Nga mihi nui!

If you’d like to help us help the refuge, and bring some joy and dignity to  the women and kids who live there, and families in the refuge community, as well as other beautiful humans, you can do that here.