New Zealand Lottery Grants Board Distribution of Funds

Wellington / Wairarapa Community
SHARED PLANTING
BRINGS A FINE CROP
When community organisations form
partnerships, share knowledge and work
together, the results often bear fruit. In the
case of Mokai Kainga Ma- ori Centre and
Operation Green Thumb, many fruits and
veggies have grown from the seeds of
good planning.
Operation Green Thumb was established in
1994 to help set up new community gardens
to grow low-cost food. The programme,
which received a grant of $9,280 from the
Wellington/Wairarapa Community Committee,
has 90 plots across Wellington. They try to
keep the gardens as organic as possible, run
a small seed bank and publish a gardening
calendar with information specific to growing
in Wellington's unique conditions.
Mokai Kainga Ma- ori Centre received a grant
of $20,000 to provide health, welfare and
education services to Ma- ori in the Wellington
City area. Since 1986, the Centre has been
delivering social services for Ma- ori, by Ma- ori.
They offer short-term emergency housing, an
alternative learning centre, advocacy services
and holiday programmes.
As a result of their strong partnerships with
Wellington City Council, Mokai Kainga was
given permission to utilise several acres of
feral land behind the Centre in Happy Valley.
Unused by the Council, the hillside had been
neglected for many years and was covered
with rubbish and overrun by gorse.
Mokai Kainga and Green Thumb brought
their knowledge and resources together,
got stuck in, cleared the land and did away
with the rubbish. As result of their hard work,
dedication and expertise, what was once an
abused, overgrown plot is now a well-used
community resource featuring community
gardens, stone pathways, cosy benches and
a landscaped pond.
36 Lottery Grants Record 2008–2009 Regional Community Committees