Christchurch Says Thank You

Christchurch City Council says thank you after the generous amount of support, funding and well wishes received following Saturday's disastrous earthquake.

The Canterbury Earthquake Appeal has received a number of significant donations from local and national businesses and members of the public.

New Zealand Red Cross National Marketing and Communications Manager, Paul Scoringe, says donations have been coming in from all over the country.

"The generosity of Kiwi businesses has been amazing and we are still trying to process all of the donations that have been pouring in. We don't have a complete list of donors yet, but we are just thrilled with the response so far."

BNZ Bank were the first to make a donation, offering $250,000 toward the affected region. Other significant donations include $1 million from ANZ Bank and a pledge of the same amount from Fonterra.

Mayor Bob Parker says the well wishes from around New Zealand and the world has been an immense encouragement.

"We've had messages of support from all the local Mayors and from a large number of Mayors throughout New Zealand including Auckland, Dunedin, Rotorua and many others.

"We’ve also had messages from our Sister cities of Wuhan, Gansu, Seoul, Christchurch, England, and Seattle, and from the French and Korean Ambassadors. The Great Wine Capitals Global Network has also sent support, including from Porto, Portugal, Bordeaux, France, Cape Winelands and South Africa.

We appreciate the support of these encouraging messages and thank those who are keeping the people of Christchurch and Canterbury in their thoughts," says Mr Parker.

Civil Defence Headquarters has also received an overwhelming response from the public wanting to volunteer.

Civil Defence Controller, Peter Mitchell says "while we're extremely grateful for these offers and are making use of them where possible, we don't currently have the resources to get back to everyone.

"If you don't hear back from us, please assume further assistance is not required at this time."

The Christchurch City Council would like to thank everyone for their overwhelming support.

Donations can be made to the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal via the Red Cross website www.redcross.org.nz, via most major banks or you can make an automatic $20 donation by phoning 0900 33 200.

For further information please refer to the Christchurch City Council website www.ccc.govt.nz, email info@ccc.govt.nz or contact the Christchurch City Council call centre on (03) 941 8999.

Donations processed to date (not including online donations):

Donations
BNZ bank $250,000
ANZ bank $1 million
ASB Bank $500,000
Foodstuffs $100,000 (plus donation boxes at New World, Pac > '> n> '> Save and Four Square stores nationwide)
Cerebos Greggs $20,000
Christchurch Casino $250,000
Harcourts $50,000
Manukau city council $10,000

Pledges
Fonterra $1 million
Unilever $50,000
GE Money $100,000

Gifts in kind
APN/TRN Advertising space and airtime for the Appeal
TVNZ $500,000 worth of advertising design and airtime
Mediacom/Fairfax Advertising space for the Appeal

ENDS

© Scoop Media