Thursday May 7, 2020
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The power of love By Glenise Dreaver
“What a hospital pass that was!’ The new director of Challenge 2000, Damian Dempsey of Wainuiomata, smiles as he remembers a friend’s reaction to hearing he’d been appointed in February, just before the Covid-19 crisis transformed our world. Until then, Damian, who returned to Challenge 2000 two years ago after a long stint working in Asia, felt he knew what he was taking on. That is, a wide variety of youth development and family support programmes covering the Greater Wellington area, and for the 40-plus staff committed to them. At the heart of Challenge 2000 is founder Kitty Mckinley’s vision of the power of caring and love to transform the lives of young people, by developing them to their full potential, and giving older people the chance to serve and thrive. Damian found the organisation when he was working at Hato Pāora College in the Manawatū, getting them in to run programmes for students and, in turn, helping Challenge out during the holidays. Now he must plan and co-ordinate their vital work with a skeleton staff. “We just told some of our staff who were high-risk health-wise, or who had families, to stay at home.” This at a time of full-scale global pandemic with profound implications for the lives of society’s most seriously disadvantaged. It’s daunting, not least with Kitty still on board, though he says, he’s very grateful for her experience and wisdom. Kitty has, he says, become their food security manager, overseeing staff who run the organisation’s newly-established Food Distribution and Well-Being Centre. The small team works out of St Peter and Paul’s hall next door, being provided the currently unused space free. From there, incoming and outgoing food
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is co-ordinated and they do their best to match staff delivering the food and other needs to the gates of homes that they know. And it’s hard work, says Damian, an aching shoulder testifying to the amount of lifting required. He remembers the “quite scary” first day of lockdown as he drove to this essential work from Wainui on empty roads. It quickly became the new normal however, and now he’s very philosophical. “He waka eke noa - we’re all in this together.”
Challenge 2000 founder KItty McKinley and director Damian Dempsey making up food parcels in the "repurposed" St Peter and Paul Church hall. Photo: Glenise Dreaver.
‘Massive’ local support for those in need
The arrival in the world and New Zealand of Covid-19 is indeed a metaphorical hour which requires leaders to step up at every level to fight this threat to the health of individuals and nations across the globe.
By Glenise Dreaver
“We’re so lucky to have so many good people supporting us,” says Kitty McKinley, founder of Challenge 2000, the Johnsonville-based Youth Development, Community and Family Social Work Agency. Kitty describes the “massive” local support that has emerged for the disadvantaged individuals and groups they support since the country went into lockdown on March 25. The pandemic crisis has, she says, transformed her role. “I never expected to be developing a whole new bunch of skills, organising the collection and distribution of food like this in the twilight of my career,” she says. The idea of Kitty;s ‘twilight’ is hard to grasp. Challenge 2000 director Damian Dempsey describes it this way:” When the need arises, Kitty’s always in there boots and all. She could run a supermarket after this is over.” Kitty’s emphatic that this is about both food and well-being, “It’s about the good food that everyone has a right to. Our philosophy is opposed to giving food to people that will demean them.” The 402 parcels taken out by Monday this week have all been put together with cultural and dietary needs and preferences at the forefront. She describes the support that has flowed
in from the start: “One group I’d never heard of. Stacey Shortall, the founder of the charitable trust ‘Who did you help today?” and Jo Turner who administers it, came to us to offer help.” The fresh produce and meat they are bringing in is invaluable. Kitty and Damian have some other honourable mentions. There was the benefactor who came to them as the crisis loomed with a donation that allowed them to shop for some early food parcels, and for some of the supplies for children, like coloured pencils, to help families get through lockdown. The Police, local college and community groups are referring people needing assistance, while Mark Farrar, the manager of emergency response at Wellington City Council, Kiwi Community Assistance and the St Vincent de Paul group are just some sources of help. Kitty and Damian know the needs will go on. But they are already looking ahead to find ways to support the young people they care for who have been planning for a brighter future. Lockdown could end their dreams as they struggle to keep up due to a lack of technology and lessons. Challenge 2000 is planning programmes of support to help them make up for the lost time and lost opportunities. “If there’s a need, we respond,” says Kitty.
What can we say but THANK YOU! Thank you for staying connected to The News online . We are grateful to all our advertisers who are standing by us during the five weeks of Lockdown while publishing online only and trusted us to keep delivering the news and essential information. Right now, our local businesses need our business. We are all adapting and changing how we operate to keep doors open. This community has done us proud yet again and will continue to do so long after COVID-19 has departed. Have a great week.... Katrina and Les
Greg O’Connor MP for Ōhāriu
There’s an old saying, ‘Cometh the hour, cometh the (wo)man’, the originator of which is unknown.
The obvious place to look at is at the political leadership, and enough has been said about our Prime Minister, both in New Zealand and around the world, combined with the excellent results, for us to know that our woman has seized her hour once again. But I have been fortunate enough to see that there are plenty in our own electorate who have stepped up in many different ways to also show the necessary leadership to help us get through the trauma of having to close down our business and domestic communities at short notice, leaving many people vulnerable is a variety of different ways. Many people live something of a handto-mouth existence, where there is little resilience to sudden shocks which see income and other supports disappear overnight. Food banks were the first people to step up. Halls, offices, and garages became hubs of safely organised activity where mostly volunteers began preparing food packs for delivery. Last week’s Herald ran the story of businessman Monty Patel who made
25 tons of rice from his Tulsi restaurants available, and who asked me to distribute it for him. Each ton had fifty 20kg bags of rice. That sounds like a lot of rice, but the first ten tons delivered to Kiwi Community Action in Grenada North, the providers to many of the foodbanks, was distributed within days, such is the demand. They in turn supplied organisations like the churches, and the Newlands Community House, run by the indefatigable Ray Good and his team, who supply families and individuals in many suburbs. It’s always risky mentioning names as there are so many good people doing great work, but Kitty McKinley and her team at Challenge 2000 very quickly distributed the two tons they received. I was humbled to see close up not only the selflessness and dedication of these people, but also the great organisational ability shown by them to put in place the logistics to identify need and get the rice out to where it was needed. Another favourite saying of mine is that no one ever learned to sail on a still lake. A severe storm has hit us in the form of a dangerous virus, and we as a country, and many New Zealanders, have become better at navigating through crisis. The success to date of almost eliminating the virus is testament to that. Our hour arrived as a country, and we’re all stepping up to fight. Let’s keep up the effort, while at the same time acknowledging those who went a little further.
You can contact my office on 04 478 3332 or email Greg.OConnor@parliament.govt.nz. Authorised by Greg O’Connor, Parliament Buildings, Wellington