Centre cooking for a good cause
Sausage rolls latest weapon in battle for mental health
Aplaycentre community in Reporoa has been busy baking its famous sausage rolls and other goodies to fill the tummies of 95 hungry staff at PermaPine - all in the name of charity.
The morning tea was auctioned off online, and the winner - PermaPine - paid $750, with all proceeds going to Gumboot Friday.
Sophie Blick has two children who go to Reporoa Playcentre, and was baking "en masse" with the community of Reporoa for a workplace morning tea shout yesterday.
Blick said their target was $500, so they were “blown away” when that number was surpassed after about 24 hours’ notice for the auction.
“We have a few ‘famous in Reporoa’ faves” like Hope’s sausage rolls that will be made, she said.
“We are very fortunate many of our families are from farms where the ingredients will come straight from the land. We have some very talented bakers, so there will be a wide range of savouries, cakes, cookies, muffins and slices.”
She said when she saw Gumboot Friday’s Mike King break down in a recent interview, she wanted to “ease the burden of funding” for the charity.
She said the interview hit the parents of the playcentre “pretty hard”, and they wanted to “do our small part in helping”.
“In a time where so many families are struggling, how do we possibly ask our small community to put their hands in their wallets again?”
One parent had the idea of running a fundraiser on a community page directed at local businesses.
She said they asked a business to shout their staff a table of baking for morning tea.
“It’s win-win. We don’t have to ask families to dig deeper, the winning business gets some goodwill with their staff and the local community, [and] Gumboot Friday gets all the money,” she said.
Armed with the support of about 15 families, others within the community got involved to bake, too.
“We are part of a wonderful community.
“When we floated the suggestion on our community page, there were many past members, friends of [the] playcentre, [and] extended family who offered to bake something for us. Reporoa Community Patrol has also volunteered to bake.”
Blick is confident they can put on an “amazing” morning tea at PermaPine.
“PermaPine is a company wellknown in the area for their community spirit and how well they treat their staff,” she said.
PermaPine manager Michelle Skiffington was responsible for the winning bid.
“At first, when we knew we won the auction, we thought, ‘Oh, I hope the ladies know how many people we are’.”
PermaPine is “very much looking forward” to the home baking, and they believe in community and local support, she said.
PermaPine was a strong advocate for mental health and she was happy the winning bid was funding Gumboot Friday.
“We have had our fair share of mental health issues, and if we can help out in any way, we will.”
She believed the staff were happy because they have always had an open-door policy from the top down.
“PermaPine may be 95 people, but we feel like a family of 20.
“Everyone is welcomed with open arms.
“Gumboot Friday may be over, but I Am Hope still needs your support, so please go to iamhope.org.nz/donate to donate if you can,” Blick said.
Gumboot Friday is an initiative by I Am Hope which raises funds for a free counselling service for children and young people.
According to Gumboot Friday, past fundraising has helped 9300 children access 20,481 counselling sessions.
Gumboot Friday was approached for comment.
In a time where so many families are struggling, how do we possibly ask our small community to put their hands in their wallets again?
Sophie Blick