Clothes, food donated to Auckland City Mission
Bluestone Home Loans has just wrapped up its successful charity drive for the Auckland City Mission.
The non-bank lender encouraged its adviser network to donate non-perishable food items (pictured above), toiletries and clothing from November 1 to December 8 for the Auckland City Mission. All donations (some of which are pictured above) were delivered to the Bluestone Auckland office.
On December 9, a dozen Bluestone staff members delivered the goods to the mission and volunteered their time to help package the items for those in need.
Bluestone Home Loans head of sales Sue Griffiths said she was absolutely blown away by the generosity from those in the industry.
“I was overwhelmed with the amount of donations (and more are still coming in) from our advisers,” Griffiths said. “It was really sobering to see the incredible operation that is the Auckland City Mission and how many people they reach, which is just phenomenal. The staff are amazing and you can just tell they love doing what they do.”
Griffiths said when Bluestone staff arrived to begin their volunteering, they were broken up into different teams.
“We had one team sorting out clothing donations into different sizes, genders and seasons,” she said. “We had another team sorting through bulk items, another team for bathroom items and toiletries and another for food parcels.
Griffiths said of the thoughtful donations from the Bluestone adviser network, the team bundled together two pallets of clothing which was sorted, packed, then distributed to different shops supported by the mission.
“Meanwhile, there were over three pallets of food parcels packaged up – all designed as emergency parcels for a single person which were filled with non-perishable foods such as rice and pasta. We also added things like Christmas chocolates which was a nice touch for this time of year. Things such as meat, dairy and fruit and vegetables will be added in which will go a long way.”
Griffiths said the Bluestone team went on this journey to give back and support the local community.
“The feedback we have received has been overwhelming from our adviser network and we are very grateful and humbled,” she said. “We want to do more, so we have organised a charity golf game on March 3, 2023, with all proceeds and donations going to the Auckland City Mission.”
Griffiths said the charity golf day will include donations, raffles, along with prizes and a dinner for attendees.
“It will be an opportunity to get the adviser network together because there has been a lot of pressure on advisers this year, especially as they are having difficult conversations with their clients moving from a low to a high interest rate instantly. We are here for our advisers and offer them the support that they need.”
