In March, East Taranaki Environment Trust (ETET) donated a "Kiwi Experience" to the Child Cancer Foundation charity auction organised by Professionals Real Estate.
The opportunity to get up close and personal with a kiwi bird was won by Fiona Vickers for a bid of $500 with funds going to support the charity's New Plymouth branch. Fiona attended the auction in support of a friend's daughter who is currently in remission from cancer.
The kiwi experience was scheduled on Saturday, May 9 to coincide with the release of kiwi bird "Murf" into ETET's project area in Purangi.
Murf hatched in January and weighed a healthy 1100grams on the day of his release.
He arrived safely in Taranaki after making the journey from Kiwi Encounters in Rotorua under the watchful eye of Neil Phillips, Trustee of ETET. Murf is sponsored by the Phillips family in memory of Neil's wife Denise Phillips, nee Murphy, who passed away last year after a long battle with cancer.