Industry raises cash for hospice

Manufacturers, distributors and customers from the local apple growing industry came together recently to present a cheque for $22,000 to Hawkes Bay’s Cranford Hospice.

George McHardy, managing director of Grochem, the horticulture manufacturer and supplier who raised the funds, says being a local business means it’s important for their team to give back to local communities that support them.

“Over the past few years we’ve been raising funds for a Unicef NZ water sanitation project in regions throughout Vanuatu where many of our RSE workers come from to make the harvest possible, but we wanted to have an impact locally with those who support our business.

“For our team, hospice services just made sense,” George says.

It was the passing of a friend of the Hawkes Bay region’s apple growing community where many saw the unwavering support the Cranford Hospice provide to those needing end of life care.

“It sparked something inside our team. We wanted to not only do something for Cranford Hospice — our local hospice service here in Hawkes Bay, but for the communities where the New Zealand’s apple growers and their families live and work,” says Grochem general manager Grant Morrish.

Grochem began the campaign in October last year to raise funds by earmarking a proportion of sales from their leading apple thinning product, Meteor, within the Tasman and Hawkes Bay regions.

With Cranford Hospice making more than 23,730 contacts with 853 patients, either at home, on the phone, or in their inpatient unit in the last year — the need for community support is clear. Behind these numbers are individual people and their families who were cared for by the hospice team.

This is enabled through the support they have from the Hawke’s Bay community, through organisations such as Grochem and their customers.

Cranford Hospice CEO Janice Byford-Jones says donations are the lifeline to keeping hospice care accessible to people who need it.

“The HB District Health Board fund approximately 50 per cent of our services, leaving a shortfall of $3 million every year to fundraise from our community.

“Donations like the one we’ve received from Grochem is what helps us to keep providing this vital service for free to patients with a life-limiting illness,” she says.

Grant says the $22,000 raised was a joint effort between the regions’ growers and distributors, and it was humbling to see them come together for something other than business.

Manufacturers, distributors and customers from the local apple growing industry are (from left, back row) Tony Waites — Mr Apple, Chris Herries and James Cropper — Horticentre, Peter Melville — Fruitfed Supplies, Mike Annand — Farmlands and Greg Evans — Grochem. Front row (from left) are Shelly Covell — Hospice advocate, Grant Morrish — Grochem, Janice Byford-Jones — Cranford Hospice, George McHardy — Grochem and Richard Rutherford — Fruitfed Supplies.