Red Cross boosts ranks
The future wasn’t looking flash for Kaitaia Red Cross this year. The branch had until June to find five new members, but it’s done rather better than that.
Secretary Tammy Peri this week said it had found nine new members, and while it was, and always would be, looking for more, the future was much more assured.
Northland area council deputy chairman David Pennington, who travels to Kaitaia from Whangarei monthly, said he was pleased with the way the branch was growing.
“We’re in a rebuilding phase in Kaitaia. We’re putting together a whole new team, and Tammy is doing a fantastic job.
‘‘A few months ago the branch was probably going to fold, but there’s no danger of that now,” Pennington said.
The tsunami warning on March 5 had provided a good test for Red Cross in Whangarei, he added. Members and volunteers had set up and been prepared to man evacuation centres, and while they weren’t needed, everyone had been on high alert until the warning was lifted.
The job in Kaitaia was now to establish an organisation that could respond in similar fashion in a future emergency.
“It’s about helping the community to be prepared,” he said.
“And resilient,” area council chairwoman Helen Phillips added.
Meanwhile, Peri said the Kaitaia branch was networking well with the community, including being one of 42 local organisations that Civil Defence had brought together recently in one room.
The branch was also receiving solid support from the community, not least the Department of Conservation, which was providing it with office and meeting space at its offices in Matthews Ave.