Hauraki Jammies in June campaign 2024 receives great community support

Waihī's Nathalie Visser is on a mission to keep Hauraki kids warm during winter.

Hundreds of Hauraki kids have received new pyjamas this winter thanks to a donation initiative.

Waihī resident Nathalie Visser recently kicked off her second annual Jammies in June campaign and donations are still pouring in.

“We are expecting a large delivery in the next few days of the pyjamas that have been bought with monetary donations from the community and the donations made by Paeroa and Waihī Lions clubs, and district councillors,” Visser said.

She joined in on the nationwide initiative last year with the support of the community, her colleagues at the Hauraki District Council and local schools.

The district’s inaugural campaign distributed more than 300 new winter items to children.

Visser said this year’s campaign would close on Thursday when the donations are set to be handed over to Plunket and the Hauraki Māori Trust Board.

She said she was “incredibly humbled” by the number of donations so far.

“It’s a tough time for everyone but there is a focus on giving.

“I think we will have more than 300 items; we have got 200 so far but there is another four or five boxes full to unpack,” Visser said.

Nathalie Visser with some of the donated pyjamas.

Donations had come in from various clubs, organisations and schools, including Goldfields Primary School and Ngatea Primary School. Some items had already been distributed in the community.

“We are still receiving pyjamas ... [on Friday], two boxes from Waihī East Primary School [arrived] and on Tuesday, [we got] 57 pairs of pyjamas that the staff and residents donated after having a Jammie Day at Paeroa Ohinemuri House,” Visser said.

“On Thursday ... we are doing a second and final handover to Plunket and the Māori Trust Health Board, and we will have the final tally of pyjamas at that time.”

The campaign focused mainly on tamariki aged up to 8, but Visser said there was a real need for sleep sacks for the little ones.

However, sleep sacks were an expensive item, so she applied for funding and grants.

Visser decided to launch the initiative in the Hauraki district after being inspired by Dame Valerie Adams, who joined the Jammies in June campaign for the Middlemore Foundation last year.

Initially, she thought of it as an in-house opportunity for council staff to donate new pyjamas, but her idea snowballed and gained wider community support.

“I saw the fundraising drive taking place in other areas of the country, and as I’m a bit partial to my pyjamas, I loved the idea of Hauraki kids having warm and snuggly pyjamas on a cold night too,” Visser said.