Friday, August 15, 2014

Giving back

Chris Winter
Facility Manager Grey Lynn, NZ


As with any business we seek to make a profit for owners and shareholders of the company. It is rewarding to satisfy stake holders by giving them solid returns.
An integral part of a successful business is having the support of your community and you only truly get that if you support them.  Over 25 years the Grey Lynn community has been very good to us and I enjoy being able to give a little back.
About six months ago Laura approached me wondering whether we would be able to help her out. She had run out of space in her home, her spare bedroom was full of children’s clothes which she had been collecting to give to a local hospital. She told me how some less privileged families don’t have clothes for their new born children. Not even one outfit to take them home in. Laura is so passionate about her cause that we simply wanted to get involved and help her out in any way we could. We gave Laura and her ‘Littlemore’ charity a free unit to store all her clothes. Every Saturday between 9am and 10am she is onsite at her unit accepting clothing donations. Our sign writer even made free signs for her, so that on Saturdays she is easy to find. Laura now gets so many clothes and her charity is doing really well. Our other customer have come on board and love knowing their pre-loved baby clothes are going to a good home.
Littlemore is just one local organisation we support, others include Project Jonah, Dress for Success, Richmond Road School, Grey Lynn Festival, Richmond Rovers football league club and Women’s Refuge. We have also recently started a fundraising campaign for Cure Kids and have started to work more actively with Ponsonby Primary School.
I believe that supporting a diverse variety of local organisation gives us the best opportunity to ‘share the love’ right across Grey Lynn.

It’s very rewarding that due to our business success we can give a little back.