Press release
11 July 2007

Rotary Club honours local fundraisers

Local Rotorua operator, NZONE Tandem Skydiving, has this week been presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for their role in the innovative charity fundraising ‘Rotarians Over Rotorua’ tandem skydive project.

The Certificate, presented by the Rotary Club of Rotorua Lakes, is in recognition of NZONE’s support for the charity project which saw community figures and Rotorua locals skydive to raise $16,000 over two years.

Annette Burgess, immediate Past President of Rotary Club of Rotorua Lakes, said NZONE’s support for fundraising had been outstanding.

“The team at NZONE has been absolutely awesome with their support of the Rotarians Over Rotorua project, from accommodating suitable dates for the skydives so that we were able to raise the most money possible, right down to making us feel at home at their Rotorua HQ.”

Keith Gallaher, NZONE operations manager, says it was a very pleasant surprise for his team to be recognised in this way.

“When Rotary got in touch to tell us about the award, it was a bolt out of the blue. We’ve been only too happy to support Rotarians Over Rotorua for the past two years, particularly since so much of the money raised helps local heritage projects and youth initiatives,” said Mr Gallaher.

“It’s rewarding to know that funds have also been used by the Rotary Foundation, the largest charitable organisation in the world, for projects like eradicating polio. We’re pledging our support here and now for next year’s fundraiser too.”

This year the Rotarians Over Rotorua funding supported the Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust, Cure Kids, ROMAC - an organisation which provides much needed surgery for people around the world, and the Rotary Foundation.

In 2006 the funds helped the Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust for the extension of The Bath House and provided sponsorship of Rotary Youth Programmes and the Rotary RotoHomes Project in Fiji.

To date more than 110,000 customers have tandem skydived from NZONE’s attention grabbing aircraft in Rotorua and Queenstown. One notable customer was plucky Skydiving Supergran Helen Collins, who skydived during Rotarians Over Rotorua at the grand age of 84.

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