Wednesday, Nov 30,2016
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
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Butcher Tessa Robin hard at work during a team butchering session at Allenton Meat Centre where cattle beast and sheep carcasses were cut and packaged, ready to send to Kaikoura. PHOTO JAMIE ADAIR 231116-JA-0311
Tooting for tucker P3
Meat mountain for quake relief BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Tempting tuna P11
It took 15 butchers just three hours to turn the carcasses of 13 sheep and three cattle beasts into neat packages of meat that will fill the tummies and brighten the lives of Kaikoura’s earthquake victims. The massive bone-out session was the brainchild of Allenton Meat Centre’s Paddy Kennedy. He put the call out to farmer clients and fellow butchers and they responded in droves. Rural Transport and Ashburton Meat Processors came on board and by Sunday morning row on row of carcasses were hanging in his Allenton shop, ready to be cut, processed and packaged. When knives were put down at 1pm there were 63 boxes of meat in the freezer and the tops were off the beer. “It was pretty cool to watch how everyone just got in and did this. It’s not just us. I can’t say enough about the people in the
Ashburton District and the way they turn out to help; it’s been huge,” Kennedy said. He anticipates the meat will be trucked to Kaikoura this week, and he’s already receiving feedback on Facebook from residents who’re looking forward to having the packages arrive. Airborne aid packages continue to be sent north from Ashburton as part of the Trev’s Barbecue Kaikoura fundraiser. The service was a key element in providing relief for people in Christchurch’s eastern suburbs for many weeks following the February 2011 earthquake and founder Trevor Hurley kicked it into action again for Kaikoura. Over the past two weeks food and groceries have been flown north by Ashburton pilots, initially several times each day. The mercy flights have now been cut back to one a day. Drop-off points for goods were established at New World and Countdown su-
permarkets but these have now closed as major relief agencies have taken over that support role. “We’re flying special donations up that have been asked for by the community, things such as fresh fruit and vegetables,” Hurley said. A 1000 tonne donation of fruit and vegetables has been made and, along with the frozen meat, will be distributed later this week. The donation process is managed by the Kaikoura District Council, Kaikoura Police and Civil Defence. Over the weekend the Ashburton flight service ferried a band into Kaikoura to perform at a fun day for residents. Donations are still being accepted to the Trev’s Barbecue Kaikoura Earthquake account. This is held by Westpac and administered by Croys Accounting. Donations can be made to 03 0835 0023227 000.
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