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Special Projects

From time to time Evergreen activates a Special Project in response to a large scale need that supports people and their futures. Our four pillars: Community, Hardship, Education, Health are central to this work.

Cyclone Relief

Fund

When Cyclone Gabrielle struck Hawke’s Bay and the East Coast in February 2023, the widespread devastation across the agricultural and horticultural sectors quickly became apparent.

So, we started a relief fund with $100,000 seed funding specifically aimed at getting those sectors back on their feet.

Since then, we’ve received more than $3.6M in donations, pledges, grants  and in-kind support, and that number continues to rise.

Evergreen’s Cyclone Relief Fund has distributed NZD $3.5 million in the past two years supporting cyclone recovery efforts from Wairoa through to Central Hawke’s Bay.

Two years on, work continues. Evergreen is dedicated to aiding affected communities in rebuilding homes, supporting individuals’ wellbeing, helping rural families access education and organising community planning days.

Our immediate response

In total, we supported 21 flights – both fixed-wing and helicopter – into our isolated rural communities in the days immediately after the Cyclone hit. The flights dropped off critical supplies such as fuel, food, pet food, and educational equipment.

We could not have done it on our own and the $68,000 we invested in getting the goods to their destination was more than matched by donations in-kind from suppliers.

Thank you to our partners

A big thank you to our community partners who helped us make a difference at such a critical time.

They include Sustainable Hawke’s Bay, HUHANZ Charitable Trust, Hawke’s Bay Foundation, HeliAg, Rural Airwork, Fern Fuel, Farmlands, Booths Transport, Anzco Foods, SilverFern Farms, Carfields NZ, Everfresh Transport, Beard Brothers, The Apple Press, HeleTranz Helicopters, Three Wise Birds Cider, Farrah’s, Better Eggs New Zealand, Linked Earthworks Ltd.

Cornerstone donors

Thank you to our donors who are central to our Cyclone Relief work and enable us to support our communities.

Become an Evergreen Foundation donor

Join us as we work on Growing Good in our Communities.

Cyclone gallery

Evergreen has worked with many amazing people, communities and volunteer-led groups to support our Hawke’s Bay region through the cyclone recovery and rebuild. See what we’ve worked on together.

Latest news

Get the latest news and updates on our initiatives and who we have been able to support.

With funds raised for the Evergreen Foundations Cyclone Relief fund we were able to make a difference to education in our community.
Bringing communities together following a natural disaster has numerous benefits, including easing psychological stress.
It is inspiring to see so many people and volunteer groups making a difference in our community.  Supporting these initiatives in their work is fundamental to the recovery phase.