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!!!  

In Otago (including Oamaru) and Southland areas we provided 581 Christmas boxes for families in the region.

Thank you to Laura Ramsey and the Forsyth Barr Team for their wrapping of 300+ Christmas boxes.
Thank you to Sues Russell and Volunteer South for organizing many volunteers for Christmas wrapping and driving the boxes to Oamaru.

Thank you to the William Sherriff Charitable Trust for your $3000 donation which helped towards achieving this goal.

Photo: Christmas at Corstorphine Community Hub with Santa, in South Dunedin

Special Christmas Boxes are now being distributed to our community charity partnerships, who have identified families/children in urgent need of support this Christmas. We are working to ensure that no child within our network misses out this Christmas, but we are 200 boxes short!

It's never too late to ensure a child gets a Christmas box of gifts, please click below to help a child in your region this Christmas 

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

We are operating the Christmas Shoebox Project in Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Manawatu/Whanganui, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago and Southland. 

Photos: Curtesy of Corstorphine Community Hub, in South Dunedin, which we donated over 120 Christmas boxes to for their 2022 Christmas Party

Christmas is in 24 days, but for some families this is not a celebration...

In our 2022 Needs Survey Community charities reported that families are:

• Sharing one toothbrush amongst the entire family
• Deciding whether to buy food or pay the power bill
• Stressed by their financial constraints
• Not looking forward to Christmas

The Christmas Shoebox Project provides a way for the community to show they care!  A small donation ensures every child gets a box of presents and essentials and their families are supported by our accredited community partners. 

We have bases throughout Aotearoa ready to receive gifts and donations for the Christmas Shoebox Project. Let's help every child in NZ celebrate this Christmas! 

REGISTER HERE
to give gifts for a Christmas Box

Click here to
DONATE A CHRISTMAS BOX

Thank you for caring for families in your community and we wish you a very happy Christmas from the Catalytic Team

Christmas is in 25 days, but for some families this is not a celebration...

Our community charities have reported back to us in our recent '2022 Needs Survey' that families are:

• Sharing one toothbrush amongst the entire family
• Deciding whether to buy food or pay the power bill
• Stressed by their financial constraints
• Not looking forward to Christmas

The Christmas Shoebox Project provides a way for the community to show they care!  A small donation ensures every child gets a box of presents and essentials at Christmas and the family is supported with necessary services by our community partners. 

Filling Christmas boxes can be fun!
We have 5 bases in Auckland, Whanganui, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin and support many regional communities with this campaign

REGISTER HERE
for Christmas boxes

Click here to
DONATE A CHRISTMAS BOX

Thank you for caring for families in your community, we wish you a very happy Christmas from the Team at the Catalytic Foundation

Christmas is in 33 days, but for some families this is not a celebration...

Our community charities have reported back to us in our recent '2022 Needs Survey' that families are:

• Sharing one toothbrush amongst the entire family
• Deciding whether to buy food or pay the power bill
• Stressed by their financial constraints
• Not looking forward to Christmas

The Christmas Shoebox Project provides a way for the community to show they care!  A small donation ensures every child gets a box of presents and essentials at Christmas and the family is supported with necessary services by our community partners. 

Filling Christmas boxes can be fun!
We have 5 bases in Auckland, Whanganui, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin and support many regional communities with this campaign

REGISTER HERE
for Christmas boxes

Click here to
DONATE A CHRISTMAS BOX

Thank you for caring for families in your community, we wish you a very happy Christmas from the Team at the Catalytic Foundation

Otago Polytechnic Charity House Auction a success

Otago Polytechnic’s 16^TH annual Charity House Auction, held on Saturday 19 November, raised $110,000 for a range of community groups,

Around 50 people attended the 15th Charity House auction at Otago Polytechnic’s Carpentry facility, at which a fully furnished four-bedroom home was sold for $405,000, eclipsing the previous record (set in 2021) of $365,000.

At the conclusion of the bidding process at Otago Polytechnic’s L Block, Dr Megan Gibbons, Otago Polytechnic Chief Executive, presented Catalytic Foundation Chair John Gallaher with a cheque for $110,000.

“We are proud to play a part in a project that provides benefits to many others,” Dr Megan Gibbons, Executive Director Otago Polytechnic, said.

“The Charity House project exemplifies the applied learning approach that Otago Polytechnic provides, highlighting the skills and work ethic of all the many learners involved, along with the passion and commitment of our teaching staff.”

Catalytic Foundation Chair John Gallaher said the organisation would distribute the proceeds from the sale of the Charity House to small to medium community-based charities.

“The Charity House project has demonstrated the power and impact of individuals and organisations joining together and using their particular skills to support those in need in their community.

“We would like to thank Otago Polytechnic staff and carpentry students as well as all the local businesses who contributed so generously to the fit-out of the houses. Strong and resilient communities are built from the support of those who ‘can’, helping those in need.”

Charity House sponsors: Active, Allison Carey Architectural Designer, Aotea Electric, Bayley’s Metro, Carpet Court, Design Windows, Dimond Roofing, Dulux, Foleys, Gib, HN Makeovers, Ideal, Kitchens For Less, Mammoth Insulation, McNeilly Heavy Haulage, Mediaworks, Oakleys, Otago Design, Philips, Placemakers, Schneider Electric, Serene Living, Spotless, Timeless, Viridian, Vision, Windsor Brass.

By donating to the Catalytic Foundation, you will support New Zealanders in their time of need. 

We invite you to nominate a region and/or cause you would like to donate to via the Catalytic Community Funds. We conduct research, assessments and endorse community charities, to ensure donations go to where they are most needed. 

We help donors by:

• Assessing and allocating funds in the community.
• Ensuring that your donation goes towards the causes and projects you care about.
• Keeping you updated about the impact that your donation is having.

We award grants to more than 100 charities per year nationwide.

• Each charity who receives a financial grant is awarded a Catalytic Foundation Endorsement.
• Endorsement includes year-round support through Catalytic quarterly campaigns and mentoring.
  

Donation processes:

• Tax eligible in NZ: you can receive a 33% NZ charitable giving tax credit on donations over $5.00. All donors receive a tax receipt and E-newsletters about their social impact.

• To avoid credit card fees you can donate directly to the Catalytic Foundation bank account: 12-3067-0187344-00. Please reference the cause and region you would like to support.

• Catalytic Foundation donations are securely processed by Stripe, a secure e-commerce platform.

The Catalytic Foundation are asking community organisations for 4 minutes of their time to complete this quick community survey. This is a check on community organisations well-being and resource requirements in 2022/23. The results will be collated by the Catalytic Foundation to help us advocate for organisations with donors wanting to help their communities.

All charities that participate in this survey will be in the draw to win a DELL laptop to help with IT needs.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank community organisations who participated in our three previous community needs surveys, we obtained very important feedback about the affect of the Covid-19 pandemic and rising costs on community organisations and their social services. This 4th survey will provide further insight into the challenges faced by our community in 2022 and over the coming year.

Click here to start the 4 minute community needs survey

#Youth2022 - Catalytic Youth Mental Health Campaign

Mental health services are in a poorer state than they were four years ago with clinicians struggling to care for the sickest patients, a top doctor says, raising serious doubts about pledges to dramatically improve the service in the face of increasing demand. 

Through our accredited community organisations listed below, we have seen the direct ways young people with mental health concerns can be supported in a way which meets their immediate needs. These frontline community organisations are working to provide professional, direct help along with ongoing community support for young people.

Choose from one of the following charities and 100% of your donation will go to providing their vital mental health services to our young people:  

• Youthline - Nationwide call centre
• Youth In Transition - Wrap-around support in Rodney, Auckland
• AMPSS101 - Mental health and housing needs in Timaru
• Life Matters Suicide Prevention - Dunedin
  
  

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

"Donations received ensure we can continue to help our young people create a life worth living, and provide them with the ongoing wrap-around support they and their families need".
Tina Jones, Co-Founder and Director of Youth in Transition

Thank you to Urban Bounty who are donating $5 from every purchase over $50 from their online garden soul store in September.  Customers just need to put YOUTH in the order notes to support. 

Does your organisation regularly change over its mobile phones? Did you know your old phones can help support local charities? Sell my cell is a company that buys and resells old mobile phones. Their process is simple. You package up your old phones and send them to Sell my Cell. They then provide a non-obligation quote stating how much they are willing to pay for your old phones. If you are happy with this quote, you can accept it. If by chance, you are unhappy with the quote, they return the phones to you free of charge.

There are two ways to donate the money to us:

1. You can have the money paid for the phones to your company and then donate this to the Catalytic Foundation’s bank account 12-3067-0187344-00 with your company name as the reference. This has the added advantage that you can claim one-third of the donation back in tax credits.
2. Alternatively, you can simply elect to have Sell my cell pay the proceeds from the phones directly to Catalytic Foundation.

What a great way to put your old technology to use!

Find out more about Sell my cell at www.sellmycell.co.nz