When tragedy struck our Taupo community with the loss of the largest and oldest building to fire at one of our main High Schools, it wasn’t just the students and staff who felt the impact —
it touched the hearts of everyone in our Taupo community.
But following this tragedy, came an inspiring act of kindness that reminded us all what true community spirit looks like. While the staff were left reeling from the loss of their classrooms, resources, and memories, our tamariki at Beststart Totara, our centre whanau and centre staff teamed with a beautiful local cafe, "Penny's cafe" to fundraise money to purchase coffees and slices for the staff at Taupo-Nui-a-Tia college in a show of support.
True community spirit in action. We had a fun dress-up day, special kai, facepainting and every coin collected came from little hands that simply wanted to do something good. The amazing team at "Penny's cafe" then topped up the amount our centre raised.
Manaakitanga is about showing care, generosity, and respect for others. Our tamariki embodied this value beautifully. Through their actions, they reminded us that offering support isn’t about how much you give, but the heart with which you give it. Our tamariki then had some special visitors- We had the Principal, one of the deputy principals and one of the teaching faculty join us for a mat time.
Our children proudly gave them a card with vouchers for them to enjoy coffee and cake and sang beautiful waiata. Again, the community connection was amazing and we were so honored the high school team took time out of their day to visit and thank our children. Moments like these remind us how deeply connected we are.
Together we showed that whanaungatanga, the bond between people through shared experiences, is what keeps our community resilient. What happened here isn’t just a fundraiser, it’s a story about aroha, compassion, and unity. In times of hardship, it’s the small acts of kindness that light the path forward.