MEDIA RELEASE: NEW PLYMOUTH – Wednesday 14th October 2014 – Three chapters of the business networking organisation BNI in the New Plymouth region joined forces to stage a highly successful quiz night event that raised over $8,000 for Hospice Taranaki and will be presented today. The event was sponsored by Craigs Investment Partners and benefitted through generous donations of goods and services totalling over $6,000 that were auctioned off during the night. Both BNI and Craigs Investment Partners are national level partners of Hospice NZ.
Christine Egarr, Investment Adviser at Craigs and President of BNI Late for Breakfast, helped organise the event at The Mayfair and says it raised far more money than previous years. “Each BNI chapter has individually donated funds or equipment for hospice annually. One chapter raised $2,500 for hospice last year by holding a quiz night,” she says. “We decided from that to collaborate with multiple chapters and brought Craigs in as a key sponsor. With three chapters involved and over $6,000 in goods and services donated for silent auctions held during the evening, we ended up raising $8,350 for Hospice Taranaki.”
Christine says that funds from the expanded event will be used to assist more than 550 patients along with their families and whanau in the Taranaki region over the next 12 months. “Along with the money raised,” Christine notes, “the whole event was hugely successful with 30 quiz teams and 180 people having a fantastic time.” Auction items ranged from fine wine and art pieces to a weekend getaway in a holiday home. Christine says an auction highlight was a rally car drive experience donated by a colleague of one BNI member.
Kevin Nielsen, Chief Executive Hospice Taranaki, is overwhelmed by the amount raised by BNI members. “We have a longstanding and ongoing association with BNI and the relationship at a local level is very strong,” Kevin says. “Their contribution is hugely valuable to hospice as we need to raise 1.8 million dollars this year just to cover our operating costs. In the past we’ve used their donations to buy equipment but this year we will put these funds into keeping our services running – without these sorts of contributions we just couldn’t keep operating.”
Such was the success of the quiz night that it is hoped to be made an annual event.
Left to Right: Amanda Bolland (President BNI Success like No Other), Lee Girvan (President BNI BNI New Plymouth First), Christine Egarr (President BNI Late for Breakfast), Kevin Neilsen Chief Executive Hospice Taranaki.
