Generosity meets community needs at local Feilding event
At a local event on Friday, children’s clothes were sitting next to expensive designer handbags – and everything was going for free.
Organiser Natasha Harding said she could not believe the amount of banana boxes they filled with all the donated items.
She said they started setting up around 10am in Feilding and by 11.30am half the stuff was already gone.
“We are wrapping it up at 4pm, but there are still people streaming in,” Harding said on Friday.
The 44-year-old is a cleaner turned business owner who now employs 32 people.
After 16 years working as a cleaner, Harding said in 2012 she decided to open Hire a Housewife.
The give-away event was held at the cleaning company’s headquarters in the outskirts of Feilding on Awa St.
On Friday morning, blue tarpaulins were laid on the ground to protect heaps of boxes of second hand goods from the wet ground.
“We had to wait to set up because of the rain ... with probably not enough volunteers we realised.
“People who started arriving out early asked us if we wanted a hand and ended up pulling boxes out with us, so that was great,” she said.
She said hundreds of boxes filled-up with household items, kids’ toys, designer handbags, books and “lots of women’s clothes” had been collected in February, mostly from Hire a Housewife clients.
Then, last Sunday, volunteers from Hire a Housewife, pilates studio Firmly Fit and The Egg Project started sorting out the items.
“Someone donated a stove-top oven and we had a bread-maker, a yoghurt-maker, baby sterilising stuff, bar stools,” Harding said.
She said they did a similar event in December but it was smaller.
“So many people showed up and it was so humbling, so we decided to do it on a bigger scale,” she said.
“Because, one thing we all do feel is that there is a real need in our community.
“We have had single mums here today filling up their boots with kids clothes.”
She said people turned out from Palmerston North and Whanganui to pick up good that came without a price tags.
“A lot of people are struggling.”