Super seniors give needy kids a hand as charities feel the pinch
Superannuitants are donating to good causes
Looking at her grandchildren waving and smiling from the kerbside of her Westmere home once a week, Ana Mon is reminded what it means to be a vulnerable person during Covid-19 lockdown.
The demands of social distancing are never more stark for the 63-yearold as she glimpses Sofia, 10, and Tomas, 9, repeatedly halting their efforts to embrace her.
“The children are finding this quite difficult. They want to hug and kiss and get close, so we have to keep reminding them we can’t do it for now. It has been very hard,” Mon said.
The grandchildren visit weekly, on short walks from their nearby home in Grey Lynn.
Mon and her grandchildren were originally in the same bubble, but have decided to keep their distance as a precaution following the escalation in Covid-19 spread, and Mon’s bout of ill health last year.
However, the central Auckland resident’s increased isolation has also served as an impetus to seek out those even more marginalised during the level 4 lockdown.
By all reports, Kiwi charities are struggling.
Mon has been donating to the Spend My Super initiative launched last year, in which superannuitants donate all or part of their super to 12 children’s charities.
Spend my Super chief executive Lorraine Taylor said among the 12 charities there had been an overwhelming request for groceries — which was complicated right now by the fact they couldn’t accept food directly from the public.
Taylor said she was aware of the stress the elderly already felt because of their heightened Covid-19 risk but the charity was expanding to also take direct donations from the public.
“We’re acutely aware that our organisation’s usual target donors, the elderly, are among those hardest hit by Covid-19,” she said.
“So Spend My Super is calling on all New Zealanders, including ‘Super Young’ people who can give, to give, knowing that their gift will provide our children’s charities with the resources they need to act with immediacy.
“We have the perfect platform to
The children are finding this quite difficult. They want to hug and kiss . . . so we have to keep reminding them we can’t.
Ana Mon, grandparent
get money to these charities quickly as we don’t take a cut.”
The charities who benefit from the Spend My Super initiative are in unison on the dire need for added support. Their demand has skyrocketed.
Variety children’s charity president Richard Spilg said the unemployment increase of the past fortnight had hit families abruptly.
“These families are already struggling but with one or both parents losing or faced with the possibility of losing their jobs, or having to get by with reduced income, the situation is quickly taking them to breaking point,” Spilg said.
“And even as we come out of lockdown, food security will remain a major issue for these children and their families” Women’s Refuge chief executive Dr Ang Jury said 50 per cent of their families were using motels and the number would inevitably increase as lockdown progressed.
“We have been working closely with Government and are very grateful for the extra funding distributed thus far. We are facing many extra costs, including accommodation and food, as public donations are not a possibility,” Jury said.
Demand for refuge housing has also increased 62 per cent.
For Mon, who is still working as an interior designer, the decision to donate her super was not difficult.
“I’m not at the age of retirement yet so I’d like to contribute to help other families in need because I think this situation is going to bring lots of pain to families with young children,” she said.
“A lot of families don’t have extended families that can support them, and they have lost their jobs. I’m not saying that retired people should give the money away but we can all help a little bit.
“A smile on a kid’s face is the best reward.”
Yet a strain remains the physical distance from her grandkids.
“I am at high risk because I was sick last year so I have to make sure I follow all the instructions,” Mon said.
“But it’s interesting what my grandson said. He said ‘yes, it is difficult but you have to make the best of it’ and he’s 9 years old.”