$26,000 donated for Aitutaki Schools

Westpac Bank has donated $26,000 to Red Cross for their Aitutaki Schools Breakfast Program as a way to show their support of the community and of their customers on the island.
James Mastapha from Westpac said the work of Red Cross is very valuable and education is a very important aspect of getting back of sense of normality in the lives of the school students. The Red Cross Aitutaki schools breakfast programme is seen as a morale booster for the students, parents, teachers and community and the bank is delighted to lend their support.
Nikki Rattle from Red Cross said there are 500 students in Aitutaki and 37 teachers and that since the school breakfasts they have attracted half the students back to school. A team of 8 volunteers from the community have come in early each morning to make and serve the breakfasts and she has noticed a lift in the spirits of the students and their parents ever since the breakfasts were begun.
The $26,000 donation will support the programme for the next four weeks and possibly even into 6 weeks and Nikky said that Red Cross anticipates that the local Aitutaki Red Cross and community will take over the breakfasts and her own team will return to Rarotonga. It is about community buy-in and taking ownership of the scheme and the new Red Cross executive of 10 people will lead the local projects.
Other assistance given by Westpac has been the relief packages to their customers: suspension of repayments on home loans and personal loans up to 3 months; nil establishment fees for existing business and personal customers on new loans or top ups to repair cyclone damaged property; restructuring loans without incurring usual establishment fees, and no fees for early termination on term deposits.
The bank was inspired to help after General Manager, Rob Buick visited the disaster zone and realized that the damage was very extensive. “We spent three days assessing the damage and providing immediate assistance on the ground to our customers – I was shocked by the devastation, seeing families outside their damaged homes surrounded by debris. It was a very sad sight” said Buick.
He said the bank understands how events like this can affect our customers and local communities and encourage customers that need assistance to contact theme to see how the bank can help them.