Berry good way to raise funds for charity

BERRY HELPFUL: Constable David Cody buys strawberries and ice cream from volunteer Sheila Hulverb.

MORE  than $11,000 has been raised for Hutt’s Te Omanga Hospice through its third annual strawberry festival this week.

Strawberrys and ice cream, Christmas decorations and tea towels were on sale to help raise funds for equipment and general day-to-day of running the hospice.

“We hope to make it like Daffodil day,” says the fundraising and marketing manager for Te Omanga Hospice, Helen Kelland.  “Every year we want to get bigger.”

It is an event everyone can get involved in and is the largest fundraiser for the hospice, she says.

Te Omanga was one of 12 hospices nationwide to run a strawberry festival fundraiser this week.

Around 150 volunteers participated in the day, with a number of local businesses involved.

The strawberries were donated by Pak N Save, AF Logistics and Bidvest.

Although in its third year running in Lower Hutt, the idea has been picked up by hospices around the country and it has been a national event since 2009.

Nationwide, 8700 punnets of strawberries and 2500 litres of ice cream will be sold to supporters this month.

The idea sprang from a Mary Potter Hospice staff member who had travelled overseas and seen similar events.

The first strawberry festival was held in Wellington in 2005.

An army of 500 volunteers assists a specialist team of doctors, nurses and therapists that works for Te Omanga Hospice.

They focus on caring for more than 600 people with terminal illness each year, ensuring quality of life for patients in their final days, and that they die with dignity and in their own homes if that is their wish.

Established in 1979, Te Omanga also provides free support for the family and friends of the patients during their illness and bereavement.

It costs more than $6m a year to maintain the free service, $2.3m of which needs to be raised from the community.

Donations to the hospice can be made online here.

Te Omanga also welcomes anyone wishing to volunteer their time to assist.

Mary Potter hospice will be holding their strawberry festival on Saturday at Maclean Park Paraparaumu Beach between 10am and 4pm.