Hug appeal volunteers sought

Plunket’s Bear Hug appeal takes place from March 3 to 9 and New Zealand president president Tristine Clark is encouraging people to give Plunket a hug by donating their time.

‘‘A hug is a sign of love and appreciation,’’ Ms Clark said. ‘‘So we’re hoping the Porirua community will help us to continue to provide support to local families when they need it most by supporting our March Bear Hug appeal.’’

She said that collections would take place in Wellington on Thursday, March 6, and in Porirua on Saturday, March 8.

‘‘We’re asking people to consider donating just one hour of their time to help us raise funds for their community.

‘‘We’re heavily reliant on the funds raised during our appeal.

‘‘While Plunket’s free home and clinic visits are government-funded, we rely on community fundraising to provide all our other support services.

‘‘All money collected locally is used for local Plunket services, such as parent support groups, play groups, car seat services, parenting education programmes, toy libraries and much more.’’

Ms Clark said Plunket was a Kiwi icon, as much a part of our culture as hokey pokey and pavlova.

‘‘Nine out of 10 New Zealanders are ‘Plunket babies’.

‘‘We want to be around for another 100 years, but to do that we need community support.’’