Community
Darrin from our Hamilton branch was asked to help out with a project for “Save The Kiwi” – read his story below.
Recently I was contacted by Shell Hancock from Save The Kiwi. They had an issue with a delivery of new Kiwi transportation boxes that were not up to spec and unusable. I was asked by Shell, who I have known for some time, if I could help with making boxes and or materials to make boxes from. Also, Shell told me that the situation was desperate and without 20 new boxes the Save the Kiwi team would not be able rehome the full total of Kiwi they need to this season.
After confirming with Graham that Thomsons ITM was on board with sponsorship I made the commitment to make the boxes. When we pushed the go button, we had 3 days to make 20 boxes. With a photo of an old box that we could use as a rough guide and a list of products we could use that wouldn’t harm the Kiwi; production started. The old boxes were heavy and hard to open so I redesigned the new boxes to be liter and more user friendly.
After the first night of production, it was clear that we could not make all 20 boxes in 3 days. So, after discussing with Shell, it was agreed that 10 boxes needed to be made at the minimum and we had extra days to make the other 10. With help from Dan, Josh and my wife Paula we managed to make 12 boxes on time and the other 8 boxes Paula and I finished a few day later.
When the team from Save The Kiwi picked up the boxes from us, they were over the moon with the design and quality of the boxes and thanked Thomson ITM and the build team for our support. The build team was invited to a meet and greet at the Save The Kiwi base in Maungatautari . We were amazed how much they appreciated our help and got more of an idea how desperately they needed them. Some of the Save The Kiwi team were very emotional when talking to me about what our support means to them and the Kiwi. Last year 150 Kiwi were relocated. This year that number will more likely be 300.
We were lucky enough to help take one of the Kiwi back to the sanctuary after a health check. The photos show the boxes in use, and the Kiwi which we helped transport in one of them. The Kiwi can be kept in transport box for up to 24hrs when they are being relocated or health checked.
I would like to thank Thomsons ITM for the sponsorship and support they have given and a big thank you to Paula, Dan, and Josh who without your help I could never have managed to get this done. Also, to all the other staff who offered to help but I had to turn down because the build space was so small.
Thank You 🙂
