Shantel and Arana Shortcliffe-Clarke, Finn Little (right) and Richard Hood (rear). Photo / Martin Sykes
Up, up and away - a group of lucky children are flying off to Disneyland to mark 25 years' service of a charity that has been giving children with terminal illnesses trips of a lifetime.
Since 1983, the Koru Care Charitable Trust New Zealand has been taking 26
children on two trips each year, visiting places such as Buckingham Palace, Universal Studios and California's Disneyland.
To mark the organisation's 25th birthday, a gala dinner and a charity auction have been organised for September 20 to help funding for the trip, which will see 50 children spend two weeks in America.
Finn Little, 7, Arana Shortcliffe-Clarke, 11, and his 9-year-old sister, Shantel, are among those who will be packing their bags for next month's trip and were yesterday taking time off to test-drive one of the auction's prizes - a 30-minute trip in an aerobatic plane.
Finn said: "It's going to be fun! I wanna go on the rollercoaster and I wanna see one of the shows."
His mother, Carlene Little, said it was nice to give her son - who suffers from cerebral palsy and a heart condition - something special to lookforward to.
"Finn has always wanted to go to Disneyland so this is the best thing that could ever happen. It really is a dream come true for him."
Angie Shortcliffe, mother of Shantel and Arana, said shewas appreciative of the opportunity which Koru Care had given her children.
Some of the auction items include a fedora hat signed by Indiana Jones, a boxing glove signed by Muhammad Ali, a wand signed by Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe, a Mazda sports car, a cruise and an electric guitar signed by rock band U2.
Koru Care director Peter Courtney acknowledged that a lot of effort had been made to get the items and hoped people would turn up to bid knowing that the money was going towards a great cause.
www.korucare.co.nz
