The generosity of all of you has been incredible!
We have raised $13,565.55 so far which has allowed us to purchase 5 tonnes of water and chopper it directly to those in Wairoa as of Saturday morning. The costs and images of the delivery are on our website operation people.com/flood and you can find videos and livestreams on any of our social media platforms.
A huge thank you to Chopper, a Wairoa local who helped deliver the water to affected families. We are still waiting on the 1.5 L bottles to be invoiced and then we will deduct that and deposit the remaining balance to the Wairoa Mayoral Relief Fund.
The helicopters were funded for 2 hours flying back and forth, the reminder of the water including the 1 tonne container the Army took in as the smaller private chopper could not carry it.
The helicopters were arranged by a 3rd party. We took in 3 flights in total and the remainder the Army took in. The third party did not inform us that the choppers were two seperate companies, we were just called this morning, so once the invoice comes in from the second company (Hawkes Bay Helicopters) we will update on the flood page on our website – OperationPeople.com/flood
The Mayor Craig Little has given us the link to this specific Givealittle page for those wanting to donate to the council directly: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/wairoa-flood-mayoral-relief-fund-cyclone-gabrielle
We are continuing efforts to organise offers of help with those running the operations on the ground.
Chantelle
Unfortunately some Labour Party trolls — including the NZ Herald‘s David Fisher — have been casting aspersions on Chantelle Baker and her team, particularly on Twitter — Eds
It’s hardly surprising that aspersions are being cast. There appears to be a blackout, or at least a screening process, on information released by the media on the situation in flood ravaged areas.
Most of it was provoked by the article by the disgusting David Fisher. Fortunately the NZ Herald put it behind a paywall, but the damage was done in his headline.
The people.com link doesn’t work, but I’ve donated to the Mayoral Relief Fund, thanks.
OperationPeople.com/flood works.