The photo is the area where three of our churches walked out around $85,000 of supermarket vouchers to severely affected people in Christchurch. It is stunning to see what has happened. Hopefully all the affected people have found a new and better space in which to live. I know one family for whom the relocation has been successful albeit slow and at times massively disruptive.
Earthquake Award for St Stephen’s
Here’s the Christchurch Earthquake Civic Award that I received tonight on behalf of St Stephen’s for their post-earthquake work including the red zone community food voucher fundraiser we established and dispersed with the help of people from St Giles & St Marks. A big thanks to all those around ChCh, NZ, and overseas who contributed to the project of 15 months ago, and especially the people from the three churches here who walked out the $96,000 donated, most of which was turned into New World Supermarket vouchers which made some people’s lives just a little bit easier. The evening was at times very moving with a huge variety of individuals and groups receiving awards. It was great to see a number of MPs and City Councillors along as well, including my colleague Cr Glenn Livingstone.
I went back out to see Trev & Val today and gave them a calender I had made using the above photo (a little thanks for the grapefruit!). I have been approached by TVNZ One News seeking out a story for Christmas and Trev & Val have agreed to let themselves be ‘celebrified’. I think the clip will be shot later in the week and televised on One News at 6pm on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day! I would normally keep the media at arm’s length but in this case Val & Trev represent what I think is the silent majority of earthquake affected people in Christchurch and surrounds who don’t moan and groan at what more could be done for them, but find ways to make the best of it. I hope that that would be how I was if in my 70’s or 80’s I found that the house I had been living in for 50 years was condemned and my neighbourhood decimated.
Anne and I went out today to deliver the last five supermarket vouchers over on the east side of the city. We had a parcel to drop to someone we knew but figured that if we saw houses that were being lived in around that area (a totally condemned neighbourhood!) then we would randomly hand out $200 supermarket vouchers to these people with severely disrupted lives.
On our travels we met Trev and Val who were incredibly positive despite their losses. While they mentioned that if they didn’t keep smiling and looking ahead then they would probably be crying. They received us warmly and despite their situation (they will be moving in March or so next year to a new cottage at a retirement complex), they offered us a gift – grapefruit from their tree (they can’t eat it) – but more than that, they offered us a great deal of Christmas cheer. What lovely people! What a privilege to spend half an hour with them today!
It was lovely to read a letter to the editor in The Christchurch Press this morning from an L Stewart (not related!) where he quoted our little message in the card we gave with the voucher, and added: “The kindness continues. We in the red zone are so appreciative. Thank you.”
The pleasure is ours Mr Stewart!
Various people have emailed in their experiences of going door to door and what a privilege it was:
“I found it very emotional – we saw pain and stress in people’s eyes and they were so grateful for the thoughtfulness of others – they all said it was very hard, but that they knew people cared. We received hugs, and in one case, kisses. It brought a tear to my eye and I felt honoured to be able to be part of this exercise. Although I was out of my own comfort zone and initially nervous, with the very first visit it changed everything and I didn’t want to stop – the people in the East need us to help them and so much more help is still needed over there.”
“I hadn’t been over that side of town at all since the earthquakes. I found the
abandoned houses rather depressing and was saddened at the silt covering some people’s floors, as well as their gardens. The crazy angles of some floors and some walls was also amazing. However, the people we met were so incredibly grateful for our visit and so appreciative of not being forgotten. It was very humbling. Driving back to our smooth streets made me reflect on what it must be like coming home on those rough streets day after day to those broken houses. I’m so glad we were able to spread a little joy!”
“A middle-aged woman carrying her little dog answered the door – she couldn’t believe what we were offering her – and she and the dog gave me a hug!”
“We met a man about our age fixing a new door handle on the door of a house in the red zone.”
PCANZ PRESS RELEASE 6am 15-8-11
Presbyterian churches surprise people affected by Christchurch earthquake with $70,000 of grocery vouchers
On Sunday 14 August 2011 Presbyterian church-goers gave more than $70,000 – 365 $200 New World Supermarket vouchers – to homes in part of the red zone on the east side of Christchurch.
“The vouchers were given out to homes with no strings attached”, says the Rev Martin Stewart. “The homes are all in an area perceived as not needing help, so they hadn’t received much.”
After their regular Sunday church service, 130 people from St Stephen’s Presbyterian in Bryndwr, St Giles in Papanui and St Mark’s in Avonhead, went door-to-door to share the vouchers with people whose resources have been stretched more thinly than their own.
Martin says that “going over to that side of the city was sobering. There were many sad stories of struggle and wondering what is next. Without exception those who handed out the vouchers were touched by the welcomes they received”.
The Rev Martin Stewart, the driving force behind the project and minister of St Stephen’s and moderator of the Presbyterian Church’s Presbytery of Christchurch, says, “$70,000 was raised, some donated by people from here but most from far off places like Scotland… and Auckland! Foodstuffs offered a discount enabling us to purchase even more vouchers”.
The idea for the vouchers came in April, Martin says, when Highgate Presbyterian Church in Dunedin, (Martin was formerly the minister there) gave him and his wife Anne money to distribute in Christchurch “as we saw fit. The next day we gave the first $1000 of that money to a young family we did not know, and that we had heard life was tough for, in the damaged Avon loop area. I wrote about it on my blog and then someone from Wellington
sent $15,000 – it soon ballooned to $70,000. It has been like witnessing the miracle of the loaves and the fishes right before our eyes”.
Martin says in many ways 365 vouchers to 365 homes is barely touching the need out east in Christchurch city. “It really is like we have only got a little bit of play-lunch to share and there are 5000 people hungry. But we sense that we are not alone in this enterprise. We believe that Jesus’ ‘kingdom
of God’ is in this and we simply don’t know what kind of ripple of hope the vouchers will generate in the lives of the people we share them with. We are sure something good will come of it and that in a multitude of ways people who receive vouchers will pay it forward in some way.”
I received the following comment this evening – it makes it all worth while!
“I am one of the red zone recipients of a grocery voucher and I would just like to say thanks again. You lovely people have really made my day. I was absolutely stunned by the generosity of those that have been involved in this. Whilst the voucher itself is very welcome and will most certainly come in handy it is the thoughtfulness and caring involved that has touched me deeply. We are fortunate to still be able to remain in our home whilst decisions are made, we have no idea where we will go from here at this stage but know it will ‘all come out in the wash’ so to speak. In the end we will be where we are meant to be. To be remembered today in this way is very humbling. A huge thanks to all.
Take care, Linda
In this weekend of delivering $200 supermarket vouchers out in the east of the city Anne and I have been remembering times when we have been the recipients of the generosity of others.
One time, in Dunedin, when Anne was studying and we had very little extra cash, we had planned a post-Christmas camping trip with the kids and were really struggling to make it all work financially.
We had managed to book for and pay the fees for accommodation, and had squirreled away petrol vouchers to make the trip, but with Christmas and all (the challenge of living in a part of the world where Christmas and holidays all come at once!), we couldn’t see how we would manage to get enough food. we had a bit but not enough.
One day, just before we were due to head off, a hand-delivered envelope was found in our letterbox – a supermarket voucher for $200! It was an absolute lifeline for us. It enabled us a worry-free holiday. It could not have come at a better time.
It was also a mystery gift – we still don’t know who gave it to us. The interesting thing was that we were sure that we had not conveyed to anyone that we were struggling. We are people of faith and we like to believe that there was a ‘hand’ in all that took place. Daily in our lives we see the hand of God’s generosity – gifts that are given in uncalculated and unconditional ways. We figure that whoever gave the $200 to us operated on the same principle we do – namely, much has been given, you do likewise.
On many occasions since then we have tried to pay it forward, not because we have to, but because we want to. We believe that it is a way of helping the world go around a little easier.
We spend $200 on things very regularly – that is a part of basic living – we do it all the time and quickly forget what we spent it on. But when we give $200 or some other amount of money away to help someone’s life go more smoothly for a time we also are recipients – not so much recipients of their thanks, because we usually give money away under the radar. The mystery is far more pleasurable than doing it in the open and we feel more comfortable that our motivations are more pure in that the recipients are free of feeling obligated to make some sort of ‘payback’ to us. We figure that people are more likely to pay forward than pay back if we keep ourselves in the background.
It has been neat to be part of a super $200 thing this week.
a group coming back for supplies
Impact Consultant
Martin Stewart's photos, thoughts & poetry
Walking the Camino del Norte from Irun to Santiago de Compostella
Photography is the Art of Exposing your Soul
Blog for Presbyterian Church Leaders
Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary Texts
Musings from Cecily
Musings In Self Solitude
Where my writing is as random as my imagination.
Stories and Photographs of my travels, Tales of friends, family, animals and my life
dwelling, belonging, serving, encountering, celebrating, restoring, praying, seeking
Bryndwr & Papanui - Christchurch NZ
There was – and always has been – another tradition of politics, a tradition based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart (Barack Obama - 'The audacity of hope')
Travel, culture and lifestyle experienced on my adventures around the world. All photos taken by me. Instagram: @colorspark
Trying to live a creative life
Photography by E Jacqui Chan
flotsam, jetsam, messages in bottles
seeing and believing 