Mum gives away to give back
The generosity of strangers at her time of need has inspired a South Taranaki mother to help others.
Toni Tolland can hardly get into the spare room in her Eltham home, because it’s piled high with donated clothing.
She has set up a group called Taranaki Helping Hands to give the donations away, along with household goods.
‘‘I’ve seen a lot of children with holey shoes, wearing summer clothing in winter, with no jackets in the pouring down rain.’’ she said. ‘‘There’s definitely a need in South Taranaki. There’s a massive need for it.’’
Tolland said she knew from experience what it felt like to need help.
‘‘I’m a solo mum with one son. I raised him by myself for 16 years, and at times it has been hard. that is a big part of why I’m driven to help others. I know how it is,’’ she said.
‘‘Six months after I’d moved in here, I’d lost a lot of weight and I needed help with clothing, so I posted on Facebook and I had so many people offering to help.’’
Others got in touch who were in the same situation as she was.
‘‘I thought, ‘great, that’s a cool opportunity to help’.’’
She got the idea from a similar event run through a church in Nelson, where she used to live.
‘‘So far I have done one event, three months ago, that went really well, and I decided I’d try to do them every three or four months.’’
Getting clothing donations has been the easy part.
Now she needs to find a venue for the giveaway day that’s either free or very cheap, she said. Once she has a suitable place to set it up, she will give the donations away one day next month.
She has been gathering blankets and bedding and kitchen items, nothing too large.
Tolland has set up a Givealittle page (South Taranaki Helping Hands clothing giveaway needs your help) to try to raise some money to cover venue hire, buying a dryer to help with laundering the donated clothes, and other expenses. People can contact her through South Taranaki Helping Hands on Facebook.