Congratulations Whitianga - you did it again.
By Gordon Barnaby.
When the cause is right, we know we can rely on the people of Mercury Bay to get behind and support the project. History has shown this generous community will be prepared to put their hands in their pocket and projects succeed. Community raised the money that allowed the purchase of the land & Buildings for the Museum, 8 years ago the community accepted the challenge to raise $280,000 to provide Xray facilities for the community. In June 2021 Lions spearheaded a campaign to raise $406,700 for Starship PICU. While we were confident, we could do it at times it seemed like a huge task as activities were hampered by Covid.
With the support of Lions Clubs across the country, and a grant from the Lions Clubs International Foundation the target of $406,700 has been reached.
Warkworth Lions Club spearheaded the fundraising & Whitianga Lions got in behind them and succeeded in being the club that raised the second highest amount of nearly $30,000
Thank you to everyone who played their part in achieving this result. As a club we are proud and humbled by the generosity shown. Our children will benefit for years to come.
What is Starship
Starship Children's Health is a dedicated paediatric healthcare service and major teaching centre, providing family-centred care to children and young people throughout New Zealand and the South Pacific.
Starship provides care for children up to their 15th birthday, after which they become part of the adult healthcare services. However in some cases where a child has had a long relationship with their Starship healthcare team, they may be cared for at Starship for a longer time – this decision is made on a case-by-case basis at the team's discretion. Ill health and accident is not discriminatory nor is not selective by post code or geography. Our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews need this.
Jo Simon, the Starship Foundation Chief Executive in thanks to Lions said:
“The Starship Foundation is incredibly grateful to Lions for setting such an ambitious fundraising target and for their hard work to achieve it. We're blown away by the support of all the Lions Clubs who got behind this fundraising drive."
"Every minute of every day children rely on Starship, our national children’s hospital, to receive world-class healthcare, and the Starship Foundation relies on generous donations to make that happen. But when a nationwide membership organisation such as the Lions takes on such an ambitious fundraising goal that doesn't happen every day! Our clinicians can fix a lot of things, but they can't fix bed shortages. We are incredibly grateful to Warkworth Lions and thank all the Lions Clubs who have got behind this fundraising drive, and to everyone who donated to support it."
A truely wonderful effort from the NZ Lions clubs in their support to provide funding this facility that will help many children who, through no fault of their own spend time in STARSHIP CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL for their specialist care.So, once more, with community support, it was “Lion's to the fore again”.