Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay has stepped up to awhi and support the Hawke’s Bay community following the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle, coordinating the provision of meals, food, clothing, bedding, medications, satellite links and generators to those in need across the region.

The Environment Centre’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle has blown away even its own CEO, Emma Horgan-Heke, who says she estimates tens of thousands have been touched by the relief efforts of the Centre’s extraordinary league of volunteers.

“When the cyclone hit, we were able to move from business-as-usual to response with the support of our board,” says Horgan-Heke.

“We immediately put a call out for volunteers and goods donations and had an amazingly fast reaction from the community. Hundreds of wonderful volunteers turned up and quality clothing and household items, kai, toys and bedding were donated.

“This has shown me how resilient and incredible people in Hawke’s Bay’s and across Aotearoa are. People have come from around the country to process donations, dig out silt, clean up roads, get goods into hard-to-reach areas, evacuate people and animals, and care for the displaced.

“With unprecedented levels of assistance, we have facilitated and delivered thousands of hot meals each day, supported 28 community hubs with their essential needs, and driven, flown, rowed, helicoptered and trucked in support to rural communities, including the thousands of newly homeless people.

“We have only been able to do what we’ve done thanks to other organisations and businesses around the rohe partnering with us. We’ve had such an outpouring of support I won’t be able to name everyone, but I want to acknowledge Nourished for Nil, Craggy Range, Beard Brothers, Detpak, the local Sikh community, and TUMU who have helped provide warm meals to those for whom cooking just wasn’t an option. We started with a few hundred, and now we’re making and delivering up to 3,000 meals daily.”

But co-chair Sarah Walker is concerned that there’s more work – and much more funding – needed to keep the wheels of the Environment Centre’s response turning.

“It’s normal for fatigue to set in, and for news organisations to turn to other stories in other areas, but just because the spotlight will eventually flick off doesn’t mean the work isn’t ongoing. In fact, it’s only just beginning.”

The demand for emergency response has now diminished, and the ongoing need will be transitioned to Environment Centre’s partner, Nourished for Nil, to facilitate. Walker says as a consequence, her charity is no longer seeking offers of essentials, but will continue to collect donations through the Environment Centre’s Givealittle page “so that its enormous effort can continue, funding the constantly evolving needs of this crisis”.

Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay’s usual kaupapa is educating and empowering communities to create a resilient and regenerative Hawke’s Bay. Until now, it was best known for its innovative recycling initiative, taking everything from soft plastics to batteries to Tetrapaks and diverting them from landfill.

“For the future, we’ve developed a strategy which brings together our community and our vision of a Hawke’s Bay with resilient, connected communities, regenerative food systems, thriving biodiversity, and a circular economy. We’re currently reviewing the impact the cyclone has had on our long term strategic focus priorities, and bringing a stronger te ao Māori view.”

Co-chair Jo Heperi says the Environment Centre is here for the long run, to be an advocate for the environment and future generations. “We want to be a voice for te taiao and our mokopuna. We’re seeing short-term thinking from the region’s leaders with a focus on ‘building back better’ and wealth accumulation, with little regard for environmental limits and the impacts on future generations.

“The cyclone has shown us what our future with a changing climate could look like, and we need to come together as a community to reimagine what our future could be, committing to a climate-ready Hawke’s Bay with resilient and sustainable communities, where people can lean on each other for energy, goods and transport, rather than rely on larger towns and cities.

“Getting our region back on its feet is no quick fix, but we have the awareness, the expertise and the dedication to help our communities become more resilient as we move forward into repairing and rebuilding our beautiful Hawke’s Bay.”

© Scoop Media