Norwood’s third annual charity golf tournament and fundraising auction has raised $100,000 for award-winning rural wellbeing programme Farmstrong, significantly exceeding sums raised in previous years.
All 92 golfers played 18 holes in teams of four at Wairakei Golf + Retreat, Taupo on Wednesday 12 May. The golf tournament was followed by a formal dinner and fundraising auction at which Craig Nash of NZME acted as the emcee while Kevin Mortensen of PGG Wrightson Ltd wielded the hammer as auctioneer.
Guest speaker and South Taranaki dairy farmer, Kane Briscoe, shared the positive impact Farmstrong has on his own rural community. He outlined his own project Farm Fit, which gives local farmers the opportunity to join him for boot camps, getting them off the farm and injecting physical movement into their days.
Norwood CEO, Tim Myers says Norwood is proud to continue its support of Farmstrong.
“Norwood is involved in rural communities the length and breadth of New Zealand. We understand the unique and often uncontrollable challenges famers, their families and their communities face every day. Farmstrong plays a vital role in providing farmers with the tools that make it easier to cope when the going gets tough.”
“We’re thrilled to be able to donate $100,000 from this year’s event to Farmstrong. It’s our best effort yet, up from $30,000 in 2019 and $64,000 in 2020. Congratulation to our generous sponsors and donors,” says Tim Myers.
One of the highlights under the hammer was a transport package donated by PTS Logistics, this gained so much interest that three additional packages were donated by PTS Logistics and sold to the underbidders, with the items raising a total of $24,000 for the charity. Other items included a signed and framed Kiwi’s rugby league jersey donated by Mainstream, an advertising package donated by NZME, a golfers’ weekend away donated by Humphries Construction and The Blues vs Brumbies Hospitality Package donated by nib New Zealand (nib).
Chief Executive Officer of nib, Rob Hennin, was thrilled to be supporting the event for a third year running.
“It’s fantastic to be a part of another successful event by Norwood raising $100,000 for an organisation dedicated to supporting the health and wellbeing of our farmers and their families,” Mr Hennin said.
“We hope this funding will enable Farmstrong to continue to provide the necessary tools, resources and programs to empower our farmers and their communities to take care of their physical and mental health and we’re glad to have played a small part in this,” he added.