The Dunedin Night Shelter goes above and beyond for their clients!

Through the Catalytic Foundation Community Fund, which is supported by payday donors and donor organisations, we were able to provide a financial grant to the Dunedin Night Shelter in 2023. We are thankful to our donors for supporting the fund and ensuring outstanding frontline charities such at Dunedin Night Shelter receive necessary support. 

The following are social stories about the important work they do. 

Over $115,000 donated to hardworking charities from the Manawatu, Horowhenua and Whanganui regions.

Congratulations to the community charities from Manawatu/Horowhenua and Whanganui districts who received a Catalytic Foundation Grant this week. Thank you to Mayor Grant Smith and the Palmerston North City Council for hosting the awards event. It was wonderful to see all the charities together networking and sharing their experiences.

Thank you to The Tindall Foundation and our payday donors who contribute to this very important community fund.

"As a payroll donator myself, it was great to see where the funds go.
The Palmerston North City Council was very happy to host the ‘regional event’
for the Catalytic Foundation" Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith

The community charities who received Catalytic Foundation endorsement awards are:

Congratulations to these hardworking charities who support people in need in our communities.

Payday giving is a way you can help those in need in your community  

Payday giving is a small but effective way to make a big change in the lives of those in your community who are finding life a little tougher right now. Our community funds support the following regions: Southland, Otago, South Canterbury, Canterbury, Wellington, Horowhenua, Manawatu, Whanganui, Auckland and Northland. 

If you donate just $5 each week to Catalytic Foundation, in a year you will give us $260 to support local charities who are providing grass roots care in your community.

The best bit is that we supply a tax receipt so you can claim one-third of your donation back at the end of the financial year. So really, your $260 donation ends up costing you around $170. That's a win for everyone!

"As a payroll donator myself, it was great to see where the funds go.
The Palmerston North City Council was very happy to host the ‘regional event’
for the Catalytic Foundation" Mayor Grant Smith

If you would like to make that change today
please click here for more information

We would love to share a coffee with you! 

The need is ongoing, we are still collecting quality bedding and towels, and donations are needed to buy the essentials families are asking for.

Last week we helped a grandmother with 2 daughters, who were flooded out of their refuge. Luckily, after finding her family homeless, another refuge offered her a home. The Catalytic Foundation (with thanks to our donors) gave her Warehouse vouchers, clothing, shoes, towels and bed linen. We later received an email from her saying:

“Thank you so much for all the stuff you gave, it’s wonderful to have stuff we can call our own. As we had nothing to begin with. We moved into a women’s refuge during the flood, we only had stuff at that refuge, but lost them as our room got flooded. We then moved into a civil defence centre, there they gave us clothing to wear, and what we wore, we went with to temporary accommodation, from there to the new refuge we are at, we came with just what we wore.  So, thank you so very much, not only for the stuff but also with the $200 warehouse gift card. Bless you and all you do for families like us who have lost everything. Thank you Thank you Thank you”

On Saturday 18th Feb, we provided linen, towels and New World vouchers to community charity Woven Earth, who worked with their volunteers to furnish a home for multiple families in Muriwai. Thank you to New World Long Bay for contributing a further $500 voucher for these families. 

“Thank you so much for the vouchers and the support to get all of that out to Muriwai yesterday. They cried when I gave them the vouchers. It was pretty sobering being out there. The people helping to clean this house up were all forced to leave their homes. There were very humble and so grateful for the support” CEO of Woven Earth charity  

Currently, we are supporting Woven Earth as they help to set up Muriwai Surf Club for families to live in. The club will house many homeless families from the area. 

On Monday 20th Feb, we dropped of a van load of clothes, bed linen and towels to charity Island Child, who provide transitional housing for families. This amazing charity will distribute the items to families in transition, families affected by the flooding in South Auckland families and to fruit pickers in the Hawkes Bay.

On Tuesday 21st Feb we are working with volunteers to prepare 200 backpacks with school supplies for children. These will be distributed to families affected by the floods and/or financial insecurity in the greater Auckland area. 

These are examples of the ongoing work we are assisting with. There are still many families in Mangere (South Auckland) and Muriwai (West Auckland) and the Hawkes Bay that we can support with your help. The community charities we work with advise us of the urgent necessities needed, and with your help we can support this important frontline work.

Thank you to one of our Catalytic Foundation donors, Platinum Recruitment, for kindly donating laptops for our community charities. Four of these laptops have gone to Mama Taana from the Corstorphine Hub charity in South Dunedin and will be passed on to families in need.

DIGITAL DEVICES URGENTLY NEEDED 

In a recent survey conducted by the Catalytic Foundation, 85% of charities and schools are reporting they need digital devices for their clients/students. In particular, mobile phones for communication and safety and chrome books for children's education.

If you can help please CONTACT US

Teachers fear an increasing number of students will turn up without the necessities to learn as families struggle to afford food and school supplies such as backpacks, uniforms and stationery. "Our recent survey has shown the immediate need to provide support for families, so their children can return to school" says Teresa Moore, CEO, Catalytic Foundation.

The survey shows that many families were already struggling, and the recent floods in the Auckland-region have applied further pressure.  Children are turning up to school hungry, and others are missing out because their parents aren't able to provide the basics that they need to start the school year. 

There are three ways you can help children with the necessities for learning:

1. To provide backpacks with educational supplies please donate to the Backpack4Education Campaign
   
   
2. To donate educational resources such as: stationery items, mobile phones, chromebooks please contact us  
   
   
3. If you would like to volunteer we have specific opportunities available, please contact us on this link 
   
   

"Floods impacted a number of already vulnerable families. Families would appreciate support with educational resources, support with uniforms and school fees" Mangere based community charity request 

Information about the Backpack4Education Campaign

Established to provide education resources to help children return to school.  Families have been identified by accredited frontline Community Charities and schools, as needing urgent support to equip their children for learning. Families need our support due to a variety of reasons: families have been affected by the January 23' floods, are in financial hardship, survivors of domestic violence or living in transitional homes after being homeless. 

The resources we provide children include a Backpack with: lunchbox, drink bottle, school resources (writing books/pens/pencils/pencil case/sharpener/glue), educational book(s). We also endeavor to fill requests for: towels, clothing, shoes, Chromebook or digital learning devices.

Thank you for caring for a child's learning and their future

There are 3 simple ways you and your workplace can help families in need?

• To help support families in need with Educational supplies please click here
  
  
• To help with resources for families please donate here
  
  
• To donate items to help families  please contact us on this link 
  

Over the last few months, we have had hundreds of people across Aotearoa getting involved to create Christmas boxes for families in need.

As a result of the generous donations, and with help of all the volunteers, we have managed to give over 3,750 boxes nationwide – this is a massive achievement and one we could not have done alone…so THANK YOU!!! 

A huge thank you to Argosy Properties for gifting us our office and volunteering space in Auckland. It was a very central HQ, and the volunteers loved it.

Collectively we organised over 1788 Christmas Boxes for families in the Auckland region.

Thank you to Spark who provided a courier service for the Catalytic Foundation to send parcels to families around Aotearoa, a huge help!

Thank you to the Businesses, Individuals and Families who also donated gifts and money to the campaign. 

Thank you to the following Business donors: 

AIA, Spark, Les Mills, Cooper and Co, Deloitte, Downer, Hays Recruitment, Grant Thornton, Soul Machines, Silver Fern Farms, NZ Olympic Committee, Xero, Mastercard, Blackmore Virtue & Owens, Carson Fox Legal, Pitney Bowes, Kohler, Rockwell Automation, Browns Bay Aria Retirement Home, Arvida Peninsula Club, Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate and the United States Consulate General. 

Photo 1: Thank you to AIA for over 120 boxes of gifts for Auckland and Northland families

Photo 2: Delivering to Island Child Charitable Trust

Thank you to individuals and businesses (Spark, Deloitte, Valocity Global and Hays) who donated boxes and money to help the campaign in Wellington.

Thank you to the residents at Arvida Village at the Park in Wellington and Ashwood Park - Arvida Retirement Village in Blenheim for your wonderful contribution of gifts.

Thank you to Hays Recruitment (Madison and the team) were an amazing help with their volunteering time, organizing and wrapping wonderful Christmas boxes.

Thank you to the team of 30 volunteers from Deloitte, who wrapped boxes and donated to the Wellington campaign. �

Thank you to Wellington Helicopters who provided our volunteering venue.

In Wellington and Blenheim we provided 239 boxes for families in the region.

Photo: The Deloitte volunteering team at Wellington Helicopters, on Queens Wharf. Thank you to Ann-Elise Smithson for tidying up the Wellington Helicopters base for next year!

What a better way to finish the year but with the Christmas Shoebox Project!

Over the last few months, we have had hundreds of people across Aotearoa getting involved to create Christmas boxes for families in need.

As a result of the generous donations, and with help of all the volunteers, we have managed to give over 3,750 boxes – this is a massive achievement and one we could not have done alone…so THANK YOU!!!  

Together we put together 344 Christmas Boxes together for families in Canterbury.

Thank you to all of our donors and volunteers in Christchurch.

Special mention to the Hays Recruitment volunteers who wrapped all of our Christmas Parcels.

Photo 1: Thank you to the team and clients from Pinnacle & Co for putting together over 50 boxes!

Photo 2: Socially Speaking delivering Christmas Presents to Christchurch Community House

Photo 3:  Birthright Canterbury delivering Christmas boxes to families