Cyclone Gabrielle: Insurance firm donates generators to Timi Kara marae

While out and about in Hastings, Vero Insurance's Jane Brewer and her team members Jodene Rendell and Sharon Simonsem dropped off much-needed generators to Kylie at Timi Kara marae.

A Puketapu marae heavily involved in helping the community in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle has itself received help in the form of generators.

Timi Kara marae has a team working locally in the community within Moteo Pā, and also in the Puketapu South area, supplying food and welfare checks daily to families to assess needs, including drinking water and the usage of hot showers and toilets.

At a Hastings community meeting in Puketapu South this week, marae spokesperson Paea Wilson spoke of all the support the team from Timi Kara marae had been giving to the community.

Vero Insurance offered support with generators. The company’s consumer head, Jane Brewer, said the need in impacted communities extended well beyond their customers.

The supply of generators to the marae was a small way her team could extend their support to communities in need.

Brewer said the work of many marae around the country, particularly in isolated rural communities, provided crucial support to the communities they served, and this was even more evident in times of crisis.

Giving the team at Timi Kara marae generators was Vero’s way of giving to the community, especially to homes that still had no power, or homes that required rebuilding, which was where the use of generators would be beneficial, Brewer said.

Brewer felt this support was a small way her team could contribute to the wellbeing of the community at this really difficult time, and a small but impactful way her team could live out the company’s purpose of protecting what matters.

Vero has also announced a donation of $200,000 to the Cyclone Gabrielle Appeal Fund.

The insurer said it was also reaching out to customers it felt needed extra support and was connecting them with Lifeline Connect, a service that links customers with Government and community social, financial and psychological support.