The day out that put $128k into important charity's coffers
“The general feedback was that there was such an awesome mix of properties. There was a 70s home that had been extensively renovated and new builds.”
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Saturday was a pretty powerful one for the Ronald McDonald Family Room at Southland Hospital.
A Home & Garden Tour, put together by Ray White Invercargill, raised $128,419 for that Family Room.
The Family Room is connected to the hospital’s children’s and neonatal wards. It provides support for families with children at the hospital and is a place for families to rest and recharge.
That 128k drummed up on the back of the Home & Garden Invercargill Tour will possibly be the largest individual contribution to the Family Room this year.
It stemmed from nine months of planning from the Ray While Invercargill team.
Included in that was over 200 hours of work from its marketing executive Venessa Hodgkinson.
That didn’t include the time rallying sponsors for the event with 35 businesses supporting it in some form. Placemakers was the largest contributor.
Ray White’s Anneke Kawau was grateful for the level of support it had received in raising funds for Family Room at Southland Hospital.
“It is pretty amazing given the economic pressures. These businesses have said, ‘Yep, no worries we’ll hand over some cash.
“That’s pretty powerful and it’s all because the charity is so amazing to support.”
The Ronald McDonald Family Room was something people were keen to get behind, Kawau said.
“We had the afterparty for the sponsors and homeowners and a lot of people there had a connection with someone going through such upheaval. A family member fighting for their life or recovering, to have that Family Room to ease the pressures is always amazing.”
Over 800 people took part in the Home & Garden Invercargill Tour on Saturday which involved 10 different Invercargill properties.
Included was the former Knox Presbyterian Church on Ness St which has been transformed into a luxury bed and breakfast.
“The general feedback was that there was such an awesome mix of properties. There was a 70s home that had been extensively renovated and new builds.”
One of the more heartwarming tales to come out of the tour was when some kids at a neighbouring property to a tour stop set up a lemonade stand at the end of their driveway.
They could be heard singing trying to attract some clients. Then at the end of the day those kids opted to contribute their profits to the Ronald McDonald Family Room fund.
The $128k raised on Saturday joins the $50,000 raised in 2015 and $100,000 in 2020 from the Home & Garden Invercargill Tour organised by Ray White.
Kawau wasn’t sure when the next tour would happen but confirmed there would be another at some stage.
“We’re up for a challenge, so we’ll be trying to make it bigger and better.”