The campaign ran in the company's businesses in Whanganui-Manawatū, Wellington and Christchurch during Covid-19 levels 2 and 3 and, because they've been so busy with jobs, the final amount hasn't yet been tallied, with vouchers only issued after a job has been completed. To date, the support has totalled $3150 in Whanganui-Manawatū, $3650 in Christchurch and $1350 in Wellington. Robb expects the final tally to be around $10,000.
Cameron said some business owners were overwhelmed by the support, including a hairdresser who was in tears when a Beaver staff member rang to tell her someone had nominated her business.
"There was an absolutely phenomenal response," she said.
"Our clients were all delighted as well."
Now Robb and Cameron want to build on the campaign's success and are setting up a foundation, also to be called Help Us Help Them, to give young people a helping hand.
"I wanted to set up a foundation to help young people get a good start if they have potential," Robb said.
"We'll put $10 from every job into the fund and people can apply if they meet certain criteria. We're looking at sports, education/scholastic, cultural and, because we're an arboriculture company, an arb scholarship as a starting point."
The four parts of the company average 500 jobs a year each so there will be about $20,000 to distribute annually. Funding will be allocated by a board comprising lawyer Garry Spooner, accountant Prue Anderson, business mentor Mark Daniels and Cameron and Robb.
"That foundation has only come about because of Covid," Cameron said.
"It's something positive that's come out of a negative situation. We're going to continue with the Help Us Help Them name because we want it to always relate back to Covid and remember what happened."
The finer details around the criteria and application process are being worked through, with the first round of applications in 2021.
