Charity champions. TV celebs did deep for their favourite causes.
There are many good reasons to donate to charity. The AM Show’s Duncan Garner, The Project’s Kanoa Lloyd, Newshub’s Mike McRoberts and Funny Girls’ Laura Daniel tell Sarah Nealon about the charities they support and why.
Kanoa Lloyd has first hand experience of Women’s Refuge. The Project presenter says she was of kindergarten age when she spent time in a refuge with her mother and her sister.
Lloyd, 31, describes that time as “a brief blip on the radar” and says the organisation’s work is, “Critical and hugely impactful. It makes a real difference.”
Earlier his year she showed her commitment to Women’s Refuge by becoming an ambassador for the organisation.
“I want to raise millions and billions of dollars for them and all the incredible work that they do,” says Lloyd.
“I think for most people, when they think about Women’s Refuge they think about Women’s Refuge safe houses and the really important work that they do there, but over half of the people that go into those safe houses every year are under 10 years old. “So there are lots of kids that are spending time in these places. There are thousands of women and children that go through Women’s Refuge services. “They do education, they do counselling services and they help set families up so they can live violence-free lives. I just think the work that they do is completely amazing.” Lloyd’s Three colleague, Laura Daniel, who appears on Jono And Ben as well as Funny Girls, also has the interests
of women of heart with the charity she supports. “The one I’ve chosen is Shine,” she says. “It focuses on helping victims of domestic violence in New Zealand essentially. Not only do they provide assistance for women but they also provide assistance for rehabilitating men, which is something that is quite cool. “Obviously the domestic violence stats in New Zealand are very shocking so it’s nice to have something that actually focuses on helping the problem as well.” Daniel says she became aware of Shine via her Jono And Ben co-worker Guy Williams who lent his support to the charity. “He got on board and then talked to me and Rose [Matafeo],” she says.
“He was like, ‘Can you start doing some comedy for it as well?’ We did a Funny Girls kind of line up comedy show.” Like Lloyd, Daniel’s upbringing influenced her attitude towards helping others less fortunate than herself. “I’ve got two brothers and was raised by my mum,” she says. “I remember when we were younger, because we were from a bit of a poorer family, we went on a bit of a Barnado’s camp. “We actually benefited from charity sometimes. I think it’s an important value of my mum’s that she’s kind of taught us, to be a good person and give back.” Mike McRoberts also wants to give back. The Newshub presenter and reporter has put his name behind the Bikes For Kids scheme run by Variety The Children’s Charity. “It’s a fantastic programme that is operating throughout the country and it gives disadvantaged children the
opportunity to get a bike,” he says.
According Variety’s website, $200 will provide a child with their own bike and helmet.
“For a lot of families it [a bike] is a luxury item so that’s why we are looking to provide these bikes,” says McRoberts.
“It’s such a great way for kids to feel good about themselves to be active, it’s a skill you keep for life.”
McRoberts visited an east Auckland school where children were given bikes.
“There were a couple of girls who had never been on a bike,” he says. “I had to teach one girl how to ride.”
“Just to see the smiles on their faces... I felt it too. It’s just a really wonderful thing, riding around. It’s a cool thing to do.”
McRoberts says he remembers the his first bike when he was growing up in Christchurch.
“It was for my eighth birthday,” he says. “I got a purple chopper. It was flash as. It was one of the best days of my life. I rode my purple chopper to school.”
About a year ago, McRoberts took up cycling for fitness and it brought back memories of how much he used to love it as a child.
“For me, cycling I sort of associate with growing up in New Zealand as a kid,” he says.
“Even though my family didn’t have a lot of money, I did have the opportunity to have a bike and I know what it meant to me. “I think Bikes For Kids is a great way of giving kids an opportunity that doesn’t involve computers or things like that. It’s just the freedom of getting out on a bike.” Helping young people is something that is also important to McRoberts’ fellow Mediaworks co-worker Duncan Garner. The AM Show host has been an advocate for the I Have A Dream Foundation (supported by The Mediaworks Foundation) which runs long-term mentoring programmes for children from low socio-economic backgrounds. Mentors, called navigators, offer support to children for around 13 years. “What got me was they’re not just with these kids in the school holidays or over Christmas,” says Garner. “They are there year after year. They’re like a little birdie on your shoulder making sure that these guys are always pointed in the right direction. That to me screams support. It means that people’s time and effort and resources and
“We can be quite judgemental and we walk away from people. We can consider them lost causes very early on. But these kids deserve every shot at success. – Duncan Garner
money aren’t going to waste.
“The navigators are like floating angels around these people’s lives. They might have lived similar lives to the people they are looking after. They might have walked in their shoes before. They understand the issues.”
Garner believes a number of factors such as poverty, drugs and family breakdowns can adversely affect a child’s home life which in turn can affect their schooling. “Life can be quite tough,” he says. “We can be quite judgemental and we walk away from people. We can consider them lost causes very early on. But these kids deserve every shot at success.
“I don’t believe everyone is born equal. That’s a load of horse radish.”