WelCom October 2021
Suzanne Rose and Lee Pepping
‘Thermals for Children’ is an annual project run by The Catholic Parish of Hastings’ Environmental, Social Justice committee. Parishioners Mary and Peter Fama initiated the project several years ago to provide sets of thermal clothing through schools in the Hastings area, to help keep children warm during the winter months. The project has been running every year since and this year, we completed distribution of the thermals in June before winter set in.
The sets of thermals consist of track-pants and a merino or a thermal long-sleeved top. Every year the number of sets we distribute increases. This year has been very successful with 28 schools in Flaxmere, Hastings and Havelock North involved.
Most schools received up to 50 sets and two schools received the thermals for all of their students. We were able to double the orders for tops for some of the lower decile schools. In total, 2,200 tops and 1,160 track-pants were donated to help keep the children warm.
The funding for Thermals for Children is supported by Catholic Charities and several other agencies. And it is greatly boosted by The Catholic Parish of Hastings parishioners’ generosity, who are deeply committed to this project.
When the clothing is delivered, we include a letter and a brief feedback form to help ensure our project stays relevant. Here are some of the we comments received.
– ‘Thanks so much for the thermals, the kids are wearing them and loving them.’
– ‘Our tamariki thought it was Christmas, some have never owned a thermal, let alone a new one.’
– ‘The kid’s faces lit up when we gave them the warm clothes.’
– ‘Cosy, warm, dry kids are ready to learn.’