Parents ordering school stationery for their children will be familiar with the protective adhesive clear covers that can be purchased to make exercise books last longer.
'We've got you covered' was one brand slogan – but the Mangakino Central Charitable Trust has gone one better. It covers the costs of the actual stationery for all of the students at Whakamaru and Mangakino Primary Schools starting the year.
And this is the second year running the non-profit organisation has assisted in this way.
Trust general manager Marlene Johnson says after finding some families were reluctant to come forward to request individual grants, the Trust decided to pay for the stationery needs of the whole of Mangakino school.
"Then I thought well, if we're doing it for one school we need to do it for the other," she says.
The Trust also assists families with individual grants at the primary schools and Forest View High School of up to $200 maximum per student for uniforms.
The money comes from the opportunity shop the Trust runs – whose kaupapa (or philosophy) is that money raised goes back out to the community for education, sporting or cultural purposes.
Nearly everything in the op shop which started in 2022, and has since moved to bigger premises, is koha only (donation) – unless it's a high value item for which the Trust usually tries to get the maximum through Trade Me, says Johnson.
Electrical items are also priced to cover the cost to the Trust of getting them checked.
As well as addressing the need within the community for cheap serviceable repurposed goods and clothing, Johnson is proud the Trust is diverting material from going to landfill – six tonnes in 2024.
It's absolutely a win-win, she says.
About 16 volunteers staff the shop, and the Trust has a further dozen or more community projects across seven sites in the area. Its most recent community development is the inclusion of the postal services for Mangakino, located within the Art & Soul Gallery.
It is also responsible for running Mangakino Community FitGym, Mangakino Disc Golf, and the Mangakino Moto X Park, all of which are run by volunteers with the support of employees of the Trust.
