Jumping in to action last year with ‘Lazy Sneakers’ and Active Angels they’ve given hundreds of sports shoes to kids , schools and clubs to mobilise our rangatahi; distributed over 6000 items of warm clothing and bedding during their winter ‘Keep Our Kids Warm’ campaign; provided food parcels and sanitary items, books and toys for dozens of whānau in the Hokianga during lockdown; helped out with Super Saturday across the Mid North sites and given away 400 pair of shoes to vulnerable whānau as a reward for getting vaxxed. Just before the year ended the Angels and over 150 volunteers packed 2000 boxes of groceries, (including hygiene, fresh veggies and meat and Christmas cake) to get fabulous Christmas Kai boxes to over 400 whānau plus collected and distributed gift s to over 1500 taitamariki at Christmas via their Angel Partners. Partnering and resourcing other organisations such as social services, Hospice, Plunket, Women’s Refuge, educators, Police and health workers at the frontlines really does make a difference to the relationships those services can build with whānau, and that leads to better outcomes. Bald Angels is an organisation grounded in the principles of manaakitanga, whakawhanaungatanga, and kaitiakitanga.“Our tamariki are our future, and we are their future. We MUST support them to thrive. We must empower and elevate our most vulnerable. They must be valued and encouraged to hope and dream. Only then will we see the poverty cycle crumble.” Co-founder and CEO, Thérèse WickbomMentoring to build skills and empowering young māmās to develop entrepreneurial plans to support their whanauwithin the Angel’s ‘kiwiMANA Kaiārahi’ programme is part of their strategic focus to empower and enable our rangatahi to thrive. Their latest project is building values and action around inclusion and diversity for our most vulnerable rangatahi by facilitating a youth led support network for the young Rainbow community. Our own Northland based charity, Bald Angels, is fueled by the belief that ALL children deserve to thrive.Article by Therese Wickbom
