As Aotearoa was gripped by the shock waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Clare took a stand to actively seek out community organisations supporting vulnerable people, and create immediate and impactful ways to keep them sustained, cared for and safe.
Spanning relief efforts that addressed basic needs and helped those most impacted by lockdown, Clare’s funding helped more than a dozen organisations across 2020 and 2021.
Immediate need for food, medical kits, personal hygiene supplies and care parcels in 2020 helped people and their whanau to stay safe, with extensive aid activated through Iwi-driven and civic groups such as the Te Aroha Kanarahi Trust, Tukau Community Fund, Wellington City Mission and Wellington Soup Kitchen. Funding was also given to Auckland Foundation’s COVID-19 relief fund distributed support to local organisations in Auckland, and the Fair Food to help them to redistribute food to local food networks to minimise waste and ensure needs met.
Organisations working hard to support vulnerable people during lockdown also benefited from Clare’s funding, such as Rainbow Youth’s, Inside Out’s and OutLine Aotearoa’s support for LGBTQIA+, especially youth, and Northland Community Foundation’s support for vulnerable patients and their whanau. Clare got right behind initiatives providing desperately needed finances for some of the most impacted workers in 2021, like the Help for Hospo project, the Art Foundation’s support for artists, and migrant women through UMMA Trust.
Clare continues to explore new opportunities to get behind community initiatives aligned with the COVID-19 pandemic as it evolves in Aotearoa.