Kotahi hāngī fundraiser for Haere Whakamua - 6 Feb

Hey folks, so we were too busy cutting up pumpkins this afternoon to give our pre-orders a last minute boost! So we didn't quite hit the target, but it was close enough that we're confident we'll have enough hungry people to feed! And we've cut up all the kai now anyway!!!

So, if you pledged here, we will reserve your order for you. Please come see us beside the Kahurangi Friends stall from 2pm, to confirm your order (remind us it was in pledge me) and pay for it. We'll be accepting cash and EFTPOS.

If we haven't seen you by 4 ish, we may free up your orders for others, so make sure you do swing by. 

Pledge me won't be charging your card, so you'll need to pay on the day. 

Hope that all makes sense. 

Looking forward to a great day tomorrow!

It is such a privilege as a Dutch Kiwi to be able to help co-ordinate the hāngī for Kotahi this year. While Mike has had plenty of experience helping his dad dig hāngī pits for his family, our kids haven't had the chance yet. We hope this won't be the last one!

But the biggest privilege is working alongside the amazing wahine who are doing all the mahi!

You all know Angela, the hāngī Queen, who runs the fortnightly hāngī at Te Ora Hou and has volunteered for many years at school. Even though her son is now at college, she has stepped up again for the final Kotahi!

And also a huge thanks to Irihapeti and Pauline who have set up Haere Whakamua. EkeRua is only the umbrella charity for this amazing new initiative and I'm sure you'll hear more about it soon. They have so many ideas for how to enhance the well-being and status of our community and our environment. Grab them for a cuppa if you can! And thanks to WCC for the pūtea!

Also a big shout out to all the other volunteers who are helping bring Haere Whakamua to life. Daisy, Raewin, Tawhiti & Kamara, Trent & Tania, Maea, Leah, the team at SPCC, Kahurangi staff and board, and all the boys doing the heavy lifting! 

And a big shout out to Luke and the team at Kaibosh. 

Finally, I just want to say how proud I am to be part of this community. Everywhere I went to go shopping for supplies, someone knew about our school, had fond memories of Kotahi or the community. So a big shout out to the original Kahurangi Friends and all who followed for making Kahurangi the best little school on our motu! 

Have a great day tomorrow folks! 

From Hilleke and the team

Kia ora koutou, we are busy prepping for the hāngī! So much shopping to do and it turns out we're not the only ones planning a hāngī for Waitangi Day! 

Just so you know, we will have plenty of orders available on the day. The pledge me is only intended to give us an indication of how many cookers we should use, but we're going all out either way. If you place an order here, but we don't reach the 'goal', we'll still put your order on the list and you can pay on the day instead. 

We'll have EFTPOS and cash on site. Order before 3pm. Any left over meals will be distributed to our community via Kaibosh and the community centre. 

#feedingthe44 #weheartstrathmore

It was awesome to be a part of the Strathmore Park Community Centre summer Freshen Up event yesterday! 

The Haere Whakamua team were able to support the event with gazebos, ice blocks, volunteers, EkeRua's bikes and games, and taking away rubbish at the end of the day.

Helping our tamariki and rangatahi thrive is a big part of what we stand for. Also, bringing together the skills, talents and connections in our community to make Strathmore even more awesome! And we do have some absolutely awesome people here.

It was a real pleasure to see all our regular whānau and meet some new ones.

Big shout out to Jennifer, Seraphina, Kamara and the team at SPCC for organising. All the amazing supporters from WCC and GW, to Kainga Ora, all the community health groups, Koha apparel, all the sponsors, Bunnings and library teams, and of course, the amazing barbers!

We love being part of this community and look forward to providing more support and creating more events for all ages.