Z Energy's Good in the Hood returns to Hawke's Bay

Z Heretaunga acting manager Jordi Reihana showing off the petrol station's new Good in the Hood tokens and voting box. Photo / Warren Buckland

Z Energy's (Z) Good in the Hood initiative is back and each time you fill up your car you get a chance to vote for your favourite local charity or community group.

Good in the Hood supports more than 700 charity and community groups across Aotearoa. Each of almost 200 Z service stations chooses four local groups to support.

Customers who shop at Z are given the choice to vote for their favourite charity or group, each to receive a share of $4000 being given away at each site.

Z Retailers Hamish and Rachael Waddington operate Z sites across Napier and Hastings and have chosen to support Look Good Feel Better, Heretaunga Women's Centre, HB Strands Trust, Family Works Hawke's Bay and Keirunga Creative Arts across their seven sites.

Rachael Waddington said: "We are excited to see Good in the Hood back to its original format, and we are again able to share $4000 per site with groups doing great things in our community."

Voting is open from September 26 to October 24 and customers who shop with Z during this period are given an orange token to pop in one of the four boxes to support their favourite local group.

The money is shared between each store's selected charity groups based on the number of votes each receives.

Z retail general manager Andy Baird said he was proud to see the initiative back for 2022, supporting the local communities in which Z operates on a range of social and environmental issues.

"Z is for New Zealand, so it just makes sense to support the things that matter in our local communities. Since Good in the Hood launched in 2013, we're proud to have been able to donate almost $8 million to local groups who are doing great things right across Aotearoa New Zealand," Baird said.

Along with $4000 for the Good in the Hood initiative, every Z service station has an additional $1000 to be used by local retailers throughout the year to support other neighbourhood events.

"Now more than ever we need to support the groups working hard to support and better our communities," Baird said.

"We look forward to seeing the voting boxes fill up with orange tokens over the next few weeks."