NZ Vaccination Support Campaign Raises $38K In 1st Week For Northland And Waikato

Auckland-based architecture firm, Klein’s plan to supercharge vaccination initiatives around the country by launching the givealittle campaign, New Zealand 90% Vaccination Support has raised more than $38K in the first week.

Klein works closely with District Health Boards (DHBs) with the company currently involved in multiple projects within hospitals around Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Director and owner of Klein, architect Rachael Rush could see there was a delay in the uptake of the vaccine roll-out in several smaller regions and wondered what she could do to help the cause to reach 90% faster.

“The goal of the campaign is to target the districts with the lowest vaccination rates starting with Northland and Waikato, as regions at higher risk of spread from Auckland,” she says.

“All funds raised directly purchase supermarket vouchers to support vaccination initiatives.”

“We wanted to support District Health Boards and iwi organisations working hard to lift Māori and rural vaccination rates; to protect our healthcare system and staff; to protect our tamariki who can’t get a shot yet; to get struggling businesses back to work and to get the country open again.

One of Klein’s current projects is at Whangārei Hospital and the company wanted to explore how businesses in this region could support their communities and help to speed up the vaccine roll-out.

Rush spoke with Northland DHB’s director iwi relations, Peter Thomas, after seeing particularly low vaccine take up in the Far North and Kaipara districts. Thomas connected her to Te Rārawa and Ngāpuhi Iwi, and this led to the idea for the givealittle campaign.

“As a business, we also wanted to reach out to other businesses, as we’ve all got a vested interest in getting to 90% and it’s about pulling together as a country to support the vaccination campaign at speed,” she says.

The beauty of the givealittle campaign is that Foodstuffs can be the engine room. Once the funds are received they can distribute food vouchers immediately.

After just one week, more than $28,000 has been raised for Northland and a bundle of vouchers has already arrived with Ngāpuhi in Kaikohe ready to be distributed along with the vaccine this weekend. More than $10,000 has also been raised for the Waikato campaign.

Te Hau Ora O Ngāpuhi chief operating officer Tia Ashby said every dollar received means another step forward in Te Tai Tokerau Northland’s campaign to 90 percent fully vaccinated before 1 December. “The mid to far north is a region with huge challenges at the best of times so when it comes to COVID-19, these challenges are just exacerbated. Our team has been working tirelessly on this vaccination programme and we're so grateful for all the support we're getting. This fundraising from Klein will allow us to do even more to get our whānau vaccinated, keep our communities safe and help the region get to 90 percent,” said Ashby.

Rush says the DHBs are under so much pressure right now, particularly with COVID on the doorstep. “There is an urgency here so if we can get local and national businesses business behind this givealittle campaign we can boost efforts to get all communities to 90% fast and get the country back open again.”

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