The anticipation of a long holiday weekend for Aucklanders was dashed on Friday the 27th January 2023, when Auckland was most significantly impacted by the heavy rainfall affecting most of the upper North Island. Hard on its heels has been the impact and devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle, across many parts of the North Island especially. ADRA, in keeping with the motto of ‘ALWAYS READY, ALWAYS THERE’, mobilised to respond through various teams of volunteers from Adventist churches.
Breakfast items along with toothbrushes and toothpaste were dropped off on Saturday morning after the first floods, to the community-led Wesley centre in Mount Roskill, Auckland. This centre housed around 15 displaced families and The Fields Church plant supported this relief along with a fully cooked dinner that same day to families and volunteers working in this centre after seeing the need on their local community Facebook page.
The suburb of Mangere in Auckland was one of the most affected from the flooding. ASDAH (our Auckland Seventh-day Adventist High School) situated near the affected areas in Mangere opened their doors to our ADRA team as a base for collecting emergency supplies. A group of volunteers from our Auckland Brazillian and Papatoetoe SDA churches met our team at ASDAH and helped with supplies for distribution.
Ponsonby SDA Church opened their doors as an evacuation centre, to provide bedding, water and food for anyone unable to stay at their home or requiring food support. Team members from ADRA also visited local emergency centres to provide supplies and volunteer their time helping evacuated families. Church members from Glen Innes (Auckland) and The Mount (Tauranga) Churches also donated bedding, linen and towels which were delivered to the Mangere Civil Defence Centre.
Kaitaia SDA Church is currently being utilised as a relief centre hub given the large number of people affected in Northland. Thanks to Pastor Shane Harper, Vaniva and the team who are partnering with local agencies to provide support to their local community.
A massive thank you to the various churches and members who have given so generously to help affected families in their time of need. We’d also like to acknowledge Sanitarium for their support and products we are accessing for families and households in need.
We're providing cash assistance to families most affected, allowing them to respond to their own greatest need. ADRA is also conducting a needs assessment and partnering with SDA churches to determine how else we can provide assistance. We will be sending a response team to Napier later this week to provide relief. If you would like to give at this time, you can donate to provide cash assistance here. Please only give at this time if you are able to.
- ADRA New Zealand