Martine Rolls: Supporting charities

Community health services in Tauranga are struggling to survive and the local office of Arthritis New Zealand at the Historic Village has already closed its doors permanently due to financial problems, as we reported in Monday's paper and online.
After posting this on Facebook, there were some interesting comments.
People and their families living with chronic diseases or serious conditions such as arthritis greatly benefit from local organisations that have field officers who visit and help them.
Karleigh-Jayne Jones told us she was worried.
"I live with Asperger's and if Autism BOP closed down, things are going to get really rough for myself and other people on the spectrum," she said.
Just before I started working for the Bay of Plenty Times, I worked as the marketing and events manager for the Stroke Foundation Midland Region, a not-for-profit organisation. I still volunteer when time allows and look after its website and social media pages.
An online poll we had recently showed that 77 per cent of respondents give to charity. People can use payroll giving, leave bequests, or donate when they can to a charity of choice. It doesn't have to be much but I know from experience that every little bit counts, and is greatly appreciated.
It's also important to know that if you support the local branch of a charity, your donation will be used within your own region. Many organisations have a national head office and self-managed and self-funding regional branches and these smaller fish simply don't have the money for appeals and marketing campaigns. My suggestion: keep it local.
If you can't afford to donate money, then please see if you can give some of your time and skills to help out an organisation that's important to you. If you haven't got time to volunteer but still want to help, why not donate some stuff? You can do this at donatenz.com. It's like online dating for donating.
The Government funds very little and there are so many worthy causes.
They all do important work and they all need our support one way or another.
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Then we asked the question on the website and on our Facebook page last week if Tauranga people are good drivers or not. It certainly made people react and it can't be much of a surprise to anyone that a whopping 84 per cent of respondents think that Tauranga drivers are terrible.
The majority of people I encounter on the road every day are shocking drivers and I'm probably one myself. I do know the road rules and drive accordingly. I always indicate, wear my seatbelt, use my mirrors, am as considerate as possible and acknowledge other road users. I don't speed much and never tailgate. Even though I've never caused an accident, I'm famous for hitting the curb and I take forever at intersections. I don't take risks on the road and I suppose I drive a bit like a nana. Because people are increasingly impatient on the road, I guess that's dangerous too.
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Vanessa Pringle, who has the ambitious goal to lose 12kg in 12 weeks, is sharing her journey in the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend and deserves the thumbs up. Good on you girl.
I look forward to reading about your progress and I'm sure our online followers are too.
Eggcel, run by mumpreneur Belinda Tuki from Papamoa, sells pure egg white protein that can be used in protein shakes, smoothies, omelettes and other recipes. Her business was featured in indulge magazine in April.
It's yet another local company that uses social media as a marketing tool.
Belinda posted the link to our story on Egcell's Facebook page and commented: "Four protein shakes a day for this woman, who is doing a 12-week challenge and baring all in Bay of Plenty Times. Let's hope her trainer knows about us so she's not stuck chugging chocolate/strawberry/vanilla icky protein powders!"
I might give those pure protein shakes a try myself if I can motivate myself to start losing weight. Vanessa's weight loss programme doesn't look that gruelling but I doubt I could do it. The closest I came to dieting was buying a herbal detox kit nearly two years ago. It's still in the box.
If I had to cut all the rubbish (carbohydrates, refined sugar, alcohol and processed food) from my diet I'd surely be miserable but there's nothing wrong with making an effort. For healthy recipes, free downloads and competitions, see: healthyfood.co.nz.