Families from Tapora celebrated the new year in style with a charity fun day at Birds Beach on January 2 to raise funds for the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
The annual event included games and races for children and adults, plus sausage sizzles, raffles, a tug-of-war, water slide and balloons, a silent auction and a lolly scramble. There was also local merchandise on sale, with specially made Tapora caps and stubby holders, as well as calendars with images by Wellsford photographer Shawn Stevens.
Perfect weather and a good turnout resulted in $3555 being raised for the rescue helicopter, which was considerably more than organiser Maggie Hunt’s original target.
“How great is that for a little community?” she said afterwards. “We were pretty proud of our efforts! Everyone had an awesome time.”
Maggie said the success was largely due to generous local sponsors donating vouchers, goods and cash, including PGG Wrightson’s Scott Tapp, New World Warkworth and Brian and Lesley Turner.
“Everything we needed was sponsored by somebody – lollipops, lollies, sausages, juicies. It was so wonderful to see and for such a great cause,” she said.
