Over the last year the Catalytic Foundation has supported the following 7 community charities in the Auckland region with financial support.

This has been made possible by our Payday Donors who pay a small sum each payday, so collectively we can support important work being done in our community. 

Letter of thanks from Love Soup – The Hibiscus Coast Team

" Many of our families already experience financial hardship, then on top of that, the additional stress of damage to their homes and personal items during the floods.  It was such a blessing to be able to pass on a backpack filled with essential school items to help restore some normality for the children so they can get back to focusing on their education."

From Tracey

Through the generous giving from our online and company donors we were able to drive through the Auckland Covid border at 5am on the 15th December, to deliver 296 Christmas boxes to two very hard-working family support charities in Kaitaia.

The first stop was at Whare Timatatanga Hou Ora (Kaitaia Womens Refuge), where we were greeted by the team, ready to receive the carefully wrapped parcels for their whanau in need. The team told us that many families leave their homes in a hurry during a domestic violence situations, so they were not only thankful for the lovely gifts for each member of the family, but also the essential personal items included in the boxes.

Our second stop was to deliver Christmas boxes to Te Rarawa social services in the centre of Kaitaia, and we received the following feedback: 

Te Rarawa social services would like to take this opportunity to thank the Christmas Shoebox Appeal for the time and effort in gaining resources that our organisation could distribute to whanau in need during the Christmas period 2021. The gifts were welcomed by whanau and their children with excitement and helped relieve some of the financial stresses whanau faced during this time.  Below, I have attached some feedback received from families and workers who had the pleasure of delivering these shoeboxes.

Many, many thanks to the shoe box appeal organizers who tirelessly continue to give. The cause has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. Again, many thanks for helping make a positive difference for our whanau in our Community.

"Whanau were very thankful and appreciative in receiving the shoe box gifts".

"Very thankful as they were unable to financially provide for the children last year due to COVID.  The uncertainty of having enough provisions.  When the gifts were given the faces on the children lit up.  Many wanting to open them up and taking guess of what could be in them".

"My whanau were very grateful and appreciative receiving their shoe boxes, as some were in a really hard place going into the holidays".

"Receiving them gave a little bit of joy as seeing their babies open a present and the happiness it brought them started their holidays off on a good note".

"Spoke with caregiver today she was very appreciative of the boxes, she said it really helped for her moko to have presents" 

"All the whanau were amazed with the boxes they were gifted and how the gifts they received in the boxes were so on point for their children".

"I had a 14 year old boy who was very humbled by the gifts he got. He never expected anything and was so overwhelmed".

"Young girls were so excited being able to explore what was inside their gift boxes".

The Catalytic Foundation would like to thank the charities involved who provide such important family services in the Far North, our donors, and our volunteers including: Luana Smith who helped drive the Ute with our CEO Teresa Moore to Kaitaia and George Makene for the use of your vehicle.  Collectively we made a difference.

Photos: Unloading at Te Rarawa Social Services

When Cheyelle Robins-Reti contacted the Catalytic Foundation about supporting the Christmas Shoebox Appeal in Tauranga we were excited. Cheyelle was in France on tour at the time, so we put the wheels in motion to ensure we could make Christmas a happy time for rangatahi in Tauranga.

Through our contacts at the Acorn Foundation we were connected with Tanya Grimstone at Te Aranui Youth Trust. 

They were very thankful thankful for the Christmas boxes. Cheyelle also provided sports gear for the young people which was amazing.  They had a great party with their rangatahi and have also been able to spread the joy with the extra gifts being distributed by Police youth workers.

"We work with vulnerable youth in the Western Bay of Plenty between the ages of 7-14.  We also support and work with the Police Youth Development Team and the Police Family Harm Team so we were delighted to be able to support these organisations to get gifts to some of our youth". 

Thank you very much for considering us. Ngā mihi nui. Tanya Grimstone

 

Auckland Charities are the backbone of our communities, especially when crisis strikes.

The Catalytic Foundation Community Fund provides financial assistance for community charities providing support services. We would like to thank the many regional donors and workplace givers, for their continued support of this community fund in Auckland. The Community Charites who are being supported this year are:

• Mangere Budgeting Services
• Kelmarna Community Garden
• Woven Earth
• Love Soup (Rodney)

This collective fund makes a real difference to the Charities, doing necessary community work, for optimal social impact, in Auckland.

The 2020 Christmas Shoebox Project distributed 880 presents to children who would of otherwise gone without. We would like to thank the following organisations for helping us reach out to families in need. 

• Bluelight (Otahuhu)
• Luke St Transitional Housing (Andrea Sikuea)
• Te Roopu O Te Whanau  Rangimarie O Tamaki Makaurau
• Victim Support
• Island Child Charitable Trust NZ
• North Shore Police
• Woven Earth
• Parent group at Corbans
• Waikato Women's Refuge
• Manukau Budgeting services
• North Shore Women's centre
• Kindred Services (Formerly Helensville women's centre)
• Women's Rufuge (Rodney)
• De Paul House (Northcote and Rodney)
• Shine

Photo: Curtesy of the wonderful team at Xero who donated gifts for the Christmas Shoebox Project

Congratulations!

Thank you Dell Technology for donating Laptops for our frontline community charities,

Just Zilch Food Rescue and Palmerston North Women's Refuge were our latest recipients.

Thank you Dell Technologies NZ for donating laptops for our community charities: 
Shore Junction received 6 laptops to support their youth innovation hub, in Auckland.
This will help provide computers for programming and to support innovation, learning and creativity

The Catalytic Foundation is proud to be working with youth charities such as the Crescendo Trust of Aotearoa. This Auckland music trust is a visionary, unique and professional social enterprise that grows young people between the ages of 12-24 across various satellite hubs across Auckland. They provide services such as sound production, band and music groups and other creative areas. 

As a social enterprise, Crescendo works to provide opportunities for young people in Aotearoa through a range of commercial services. They generate income through gigs, event management, video and sound production, and integrate this into their programmes. Not only does this provide Crescendo with revenue, but also real-life work experience and income opportunities for their rangatahi.
 

-EMPOWERING RANGATAHI TO ACHIEVE THEIR DREAMS-

The Catalytic Foundation supports Mental Health: 

Life Matters in Otago have established a community that supports young people around New Zealand suffering with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. 

Navigating the mental health system can be complicated. Research done by Life Matters have found that there are 5 key issues for individuals trying to reach out for help in New Zealand

• Difficulty Accessing Services 
• Lack of Compassion
• Lack of Follow-up 
• Inadequate support for families and loved ones 
• Stigma

Each of these key issues have been identified by Life Matters as reasons for individuals not truly getting the help they need.