Recent research has found that New Zealanders have reprioritised the importance of caring for others, with kindness for each other being more important than ever during these tough times. Following its success in Australia, the Care Collective, brought to you by Panadol, launched in New Zealand to uncover the remarkable stories of Kiwis who give back to their community and pay it forward by giving them something that will make a real difference to their lives, enabling them to better care for themselves and their community.
The Care Collective, brought to you by Panadol, has recognised a number of winners across the motu and is rewarding them with a share in $15,000 worth of care packages.
One of those winners is Corrin Webster. He is described as the backbone of the Webster Whanau Charitable Trust - known by the wider Christchurch community as the Hoon Hay Foodbank - which has been providing kai to families in need for the past three years.
Webster and his partner Nicole Sutherland started out helping a few families per week in 2020, but the number quickly grew up to a peak of around 200 families per week. Having only recently been granted charitable status, the couple have always operated out of their own home, with no funding, all while looking after their own growing kids.
"We love helping our community. It's very rewarding, there's lots of tears around here and lots of thankful, grateful people," Sutherland told Newshub, adding that they are helping people from all walks of life.
"In the beginning there was definitely a type of person we would see, but with the increased cost of everything now we don't have a 'type'. We see everybody from beneficiaries and single parents, through to households with two working parents that have to make the choice between paying the mortgage and buying food."
Sutherland said she and Webster have in the past had to use foodbanks themselves, so they know well how hard it is to ask for help.
"That's one of the big things we want to get out there - there's no shame in asking for help. There's no judgement here," she said.
"Nobody will be turned away. Everybody has their own reasons for needing a hand, we don't get into those details, we're just here to help if you need food."
As demand for what the foodbank provides skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Webster and Sutherland were dedicated to helping other families - even as their own faced tragic hardship. Their baby son Laurentian died in March after having spent four months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), but all the while the couple kept working.
"We're so grateful for everything NICU did for us, but you do need to get out of there at some point. It became a good break for us to come home and open the foodbank for a couple of hours," said Sutherland.
"The community and everyone that we help, they really wrapped their arms around us during that time. It was great to get that support - we were giving it to them, but they were giving it to us at the same time."
The Care Collective, brought to you by Panadol, was an opportunity for New Zealanders to nominate themselves or a deserving individual in their community who has an exceptional story of care.
Sutherland nominated Webster saying he is "so deserving" as a "tower of strength in the community and with our family".
Of his win, Webster said: "I was overwhelmed. It's really amazing to be recognised."
Panadol recently commissioned research to gain a deeper understanding of what care means to us as a nation.
The study found that New Zealanders have reprioritised the importance of caring for others with nearly 8 in 10 (78 percent) saying they realised the significance of caring for those around them. More than half of those surveyed (51 percent) admitted they would like to give more than they currently do, despite 77 percent claiming to currently proactively provide support to their community.
One way you can help is by contacting the Hoon Hay Foodbank via their Facebook page and asking about how you can lend them a hand.
Anything you can contribute will help us be able to give back a little more care to the Christchurch community and hopefully beyond.
Article created in partnership with Haleon Consumer Healthcare NZ.
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*New, independent research commissioned by Haleon Consumer Healthcare NZ, the makers of Panadol.