Impact100 Wakatipu announces finalists
Impact100 Wakatipu has named its five 2023 finalists in the running for $208,000 of grants.
They are Graeme Dingle Foundation Southern, Kiwi Harvest, Lakes District Museum, Queenstown Trails Trust and Southern Lakes Sanctuary.
The winners will be announced at a dinner on 25 October when the supporters of Impact100 will have an opportunity to vote for their preferred charity.
Two charities will walk away with $100,000 each in grants, with the balance shared between the three runners-up.
“Having two grants available this year meant we have had a record number of applications so the grants committee have had a very busy and challenging job to assess each of the projects, and determine which of the top five to present to our supporters,” Joan Kiernan, chair of the Grants Committee, says.
“The applications ranged from environmental, building social capability, arts and culture, mental health and leisure activities – and all of them designed to strengthen and build our local community."
Impact100 was established in 2020 under the umbrella of the Wakatipu Community Foundation and is based on a global model that has been operating successfully for more than 20 years. Impact100 chapters are traditionally made up of 100 women each donating $1,000 annually. Every dollar goes back into the community.
This year's grants will mean the organisation has donated nearly $700,000 in just four years to a wide range of community projects including a new St John Health Shuttle, a bespoke building fit out for Living Options, in-school screening for neuro diversity by Pivotal Point and predator trapping in the Rees / Dart delta by the Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust.
"This year we are also running a campaign where anyone can donate to top up the amount the runner’s up receive," Clare Irons, chair of Impact100 Wakatipu, says.
"We would love to top up this year’s contribution to up to $5000 each. Our webpage has a link for donations, 100% of those will go to the charities.
"We congratulate the Final Five, and would also like to thank all of the local charities who submitted such interesting and well thought out projects. It’s very humbling to see the number of dedicated people committed to solving local issues, and working to make this special place even better and we only wish we had more to donate."
This year’s Final Five and their projects are:
Graeme Dingle Foundation Southern to run a Kiwi Can programme at Queenstown Primary School. Kiwi Can is a school programme to develop resilience, confidence, well being and social skills in children. STARS, the Graeme Dingle Foundation programme for youth, currently runs at Wakatipu High School.
Kiwi Harvest for a new refrigerated truck and running costs to enable ongoing collection of 130,000kg of rescued food annually. This will enable the distribution of meals via local social service agencies to over 700 people each week who require food support in the Queenstown/ Whakatipu region, and prevent this food from going to landfill.
Lakes District Museum for equipment and staff to digitise the museum’s extensive collections to preserve the collection for future generations. Digitising the archive will have a transformational impact, ensuring preservation, protection, accessibility, and inclusivity of the region’s historical assets.
Queenstown Trails Trust for a 1500m section of trail linking the new Jims Way Bridge over SH6 to the existing trail network. Linking the bridge and trails will create a safe alternative to navigating a high traffic zone, and the purpose-built trail will provide an alternative to cars, and increase trail connectivity.
Southern Lakes Sanctuary (with the support of the Whakatipu Wildlife Trust) to carry out a predator control and development programme at Bobs Cove. This would include innovative, high-tech trapping & monitoring of predators to protect Bobs Cove and it’s native species, and allow the native populations to flourish.
Impact100 Wakatipu is a non-profit women's philanthropic effort dedicated to supporting worthwhile local charities with at least one annual $100,000 grant in the areas of arts & culture; lifewide learning; community health and wellbeing; community recreation and heritage & environment.
As New Zealand's first Impact100 chapter, Impact100 Wakatipu seeks to fund organisations with critical needs and projects that can make a significant difference. Impact100 Wakatipu is an initiative of the Wakatipu Community Foundation.
- For more information visit the website www.impact100wakatipu.org
