Mainfreight has raised A$84,300 to go towards the Australian Salvation Army bushfire recovery operation.
The fundraiser started with an idea from one of the air & ocean sales reps in Tauranga to hold a ‘dress up in Aussie colours’ day with the team encouraged to bring a gold coin donation.
The idea spread to the rest of the New Zealand sales teams and expanded to include truck washes and raffles run by different branches all across the country.
The efforts were driven solely by the team and their generosity to dig into their own pockets to help their mates across the ditch.
Through the team’s mighty efforts, A$28,100 was raised and Mainfreight generously matched dollar for dollar the funds raised by the team.
The money was then sent to the Mainfreight leadership team in Australia who were inspired to also match the Kiwi team’s contribution, bringing total funds raised to A$84,300.
Australian group general manager Rodd Morgan passed on his thanks to the New Zealand team and says they showed “fantastic spirit of generosity to raise such a significant amount for the bushfire victims”.
“Your empathy, thoughts and most importantly actions, make us all feel very special,” he says.
A presentation was held at the company’s Epping facility with Major Mark Kop and Jayne Campbell from the Australian Salvation Army there to accept the donation.
Salvation Army Emergency Services are positioned at four official recovery hubs in New South Wales and three in Victoria, while providing an outreach service on Kangaroo Island, SA.
The organisation has now shifted its efforts from emergency response and immediate relief to medium-to-long term recovery.
Since the first response in September, it has distributed A$11.9 million of the more than A$18m that has been received and banked.
More than A$7m has gone towards immediate emergency and relief efforts for first responders and evacuees, while A$4.86m in hardship payments has been distributed directly to people in need.
Staff have provided financial assistance to over 3,950 Australians, through a dedicated phone line and face-to- face conversations on the ground.
