Closed for Good opens to garden

BY JANIE SMITH

Families with sick children staying at Ronald McDonald House will be able to seek solace in a new garden, thanks to a combined charity effort.

Four staff members from Queen St BNZ chose the Grafton garden as their Closed for Good project and spent Wednesday helping to clear cut-down trees from the site.

It’s the first time the company has held Closed for Good, an initiative where staff get out of the office and volunteer on different projects.

Project leader Curtis Mercer says staff already have two days a year available where they can do volunteer work and he believes Closed for Good will become a tradition.

He and his fellow team members chose the garden project and all four were looking forward to rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.

"It’s a big difference from working in an office."

The garden originally started as an idea from Diocesan School for Girls students who then got Dan Mackay from Palmers in Remuera involved.

He came up with a design that incorporates a koru pattern, native planting and macrocarpa garden furniture.

He and his brother Shea have been cutting down trees and the BNZ team helped clear the site so it will be ready for planting in March.

Palmers, Diocesan and Ronald McDonald House have been fundraising for the project and will have enough money to complete it by the time planting starts.

"It’s for families with sick kids so they can have a bit of solace," says Dan.

Ronald McDonald House fundraiser Fiona Vette says the help from the BNZ team means they won’t have to pay for labour to get the site cleared which will keep the cost of the project down.

"We have no outside area for families to enjoy at the moment.

"This will give them somewhere they can go in nature for a bit of peace and rest which is not too far from the hospital grounds."

Other Closed for Good projects included two workers helping out at the Neurological Support Centre in Morningside, completing a range of tasks including washing the windows, clearing the site of weeds and cleaning the kitchens.

There were also teams undertaking fence painting at the Auckland Deaf Society in Balmoral, a playground makeover at Auckland Girls Grammar childcare centre and selling hot dogs to raise money for Greyhounds As Pets in the Viaduct.

- © Fairfax NZ News