Good People doing Good Things
Red Cross Appeal:
Will you volunteer to help us prepare for disasters?
When the massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Seddon, the Sweeney family home buckled and bent. Mum Maxine wasn’t too fazed by the earthquake. Pragmatic about the damage, she says she found it easy to bounce back, but her husband Dave and daughter Ashleigh were shaken by the experience.
“I was quite non-understanding of it actually. I just kind of said to them to toughen up. But it didn’t work so I had to change to make myself understand that they were fearful for their lives and that it was actually quite serious for them.”
New Zealand Red Cross provided immediate response and relief to people affected by the 2016 earthquakes, and ran workshops, which the Sweeny family attended, to help support people through their recovery journey.
We need to be ready, because disasters will happen again
The first step of disaster response is to be ready and prepared. For the Sweeney family, this means a refined emergency plan - knowing exactly what they’ll do in another emergency, where they should meet, who will get in what car and how they evacuate the dog.
For Red Cross, this means holding our annual street collection, a critical way we ensure we have the resources to help those who need it most after disaster hits.
Help New Zealand be ready for disasters, join our 2020 street appeal There are many ways to help – getting your family, friends and community prepared for a disaster, joining a Red Cross Disaster Welfare and Support Team or simply by helping out in our annual street collection.
Between 16-22 March 2020 Red Cross staff, members and volunteers will be across New Zealand collecting funds – and we need your help, even just for an hour or two during your lunch break.
Will you help us so that we can be here for New Zealand?
For more information and to sign up, visit our website. If you have any questions, get in touch here.