Opportunity Factory gifts funds at fifth birthday celebration

7 Nov, 2022

WORDS & PHOTOS BY JULIA WADE

The passionate cry of kapa haka kicked off a celebration marking five years of the Mangawhai Opportunity Factory, and over half a million dollars of grants gifted to community organisations.

Mangawhai Community Opportunity Shop Trust [MCOST] aka The Factory, turned five last month and celebrated under the warm spring sun on Saturday October 22 with a half-price sale and community gala. The event attracted hundreds of locals and holiday visitors alike to a fun day of face painting, balloon making, lucky dips, sausage sizzle, bake sale, speeches, entertainment and sharing of a large birthday cake.

MCOST chair David McLeish says it was a pleasure to welcome the large party and thanked everybody for their support, either by donating goods, shopping or for the time and effort as volunteers and staff, who without ‘we wouldn’t be here celebrating our fifth birthday, so thank you very much’.

“I also want to thank the people who have been involved from the very start, the passion and vision that founders Margie, Roger and the others saw was to keep the profits from this operation one hundred percent in the Mangawhai community, and that’s what we’ve been able to do,” he says. “The results of this over the last five years is that we’ve been able to give back to the community more than $500,000 to over 50 different charity organisations, with another lot of money, round ten, going back into community today.”

Before presenting the next recipients with their grants, co-founder and MCOST trustee Margie Murray said a special thank you to former chair Roger Hill.

“Without Roger I don’t think we would have got this going, Denise [Davies] and I did lots of talking and Roger put us on the straight and narrow,” she says. “I’ve thanked him before but not publicly and think it’s really important that we acknowledge what you gave us, thank you.”

Along with Factory staff and MCOST board members, representatives of Kaipara’s newly-elected council attended – Mangawhai-Kaiwaka councillor’s Mike Howard and deputy mayor Jonathan Larsen along with new Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson who has been a Factory grant recipient himself.

“Through a little organisation I started a few years ago [Mangawhai Recreational Charitable Trust] to build the Gumdiggers Track, the Factory was one of the organisations which supported it,” he says. “I’d like to thank David, Margie and all their crew for such a wonderful organisation and what it does… it is one of the marvellous things about Mangawhai, this is how we have community.”

Caption: Round ten grant recipients are well-deserving groups, clubs and organisations who work towards enhancing and supporting the life, health and spirit of Mangwhai and locals. This round included: North Rodney Blue Light Ventures, Hakaru Hall Society, Linking Hands, Mangawhai Beach School, Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust, Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Lifeguard Service, Mangawhai Shed, Mangawhai Library Hall, Te Whai Community Trust, Daring Rescue Group, ParentPort North Inc, Mangawhai Football Club, Mangawhai Museum, Mangawhai Kindergarten, Mangawhai Business Association, Hakaru Pony Club and Tomarata Playcentre.

Mangawhai Beach School Kapa Haka gave a rousing and energising performance to signify the start of the celebration.

Regular performers in Mangawhai, the ultra-talented ‘Loose Covers’ provided beautiful music to entertain the crowd.

Te Whai Community Trust members [from left] secretary Sue Poynter, projects manager Kiri Eriwata and social services manager Mary-Anne Boyd are able to carry on their essential work thanks to Factory grants.

The Factory’s delicious birthday cake baked by Margie Murray.