The Star: December 28, 2023

Thursday December 28 2023 The Star
‘Absolute
legend’
sparks joy,
urges others
to pay it
forward
• From page 1
“I was out at the car getting
my forgotten wallet. You don’t
know me – I work in healthcare
and have had three huge days at
work, [and am] still recovering
from a bout of Covid one month
down the track and feeling a bit
of brain fog,” they said.
“While financially I am not in
need, I was very much in need of
a good deed and some kindness.
You mentioned to the supermarket
lady to pay it forward,
so I have done my own version
of paying it forward somewhere
else in Lincoln . . . It made my
day.”
A New World shopper got a
surprise when their card wasn’t
working.
“Thank you so much to the
absolute legend who paid for
my son’s treats at New World
DO GOOD: In 2021, Dean Graham paid $10,000 for a
cardboard Lamborghini, with funds going to Starship
Hospital in Auckland, before auctioning it again for
another charity.
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
COLLECTOR: Dean Graham on one of the Easy Rider
Harley-Davidsons.
yesterday when my card wasn’t
working for them. Let me know
if I can pay you back. We are so
grateful, as we were having quite
a busy and stressful day.”
Graham said he just enjoyed
the effect it had on people.
It all began in Auckland when
he was at a concert with his partner,
he said.
“I could see this family there
and could hear them (saying),
‘Oh no, we can’t just order this
and order that’ – they were
struggling a bit,” Graham said.
“I thought to myself, ‘You
know what, I’m just going to pay
their bill and walk out . . . It will
just be a nice thing to do’.”
That was four years ago, and he
has done it dozens of times since.
It was even better when the
generosity was passed on, Graham
said.
“I did in Hornby, it was in a little
shop that made beautiful pork
sandwiches. I could see there
were older people behind me,
and I paid for theirs as well and I
walked out,” he said.
“I went in again maybe three
weeks later and the lady said to
me, ‘Oh, you’re that guy that paid
for that couple’s lunch!’
“She went, ‘You’re not going to
believe this. They did it the next
week for someone else’. So if you
can spark that sort of thought,
and spread that feeling, it’s a
good thing.”
An urban legend falsely
claimed it all began when Graham
won Lotto.
“No, I haven’t won Lotto at all,
but I’m not short of a quid . . . I
just love doing it. I like seeing
people buzzing,” he said.
• Graham is an avid collector
of motorcycles and vehicles, and
his man cave, where they have
pride of place, featured in The
Star in July.
Among his collection are two
of the Harley-Davidsons used in
the 1969 cult classic Easy Rider
which Graham bought about
four years ago near Auckland for
$740,000.
Easy Rider is Graham’s favourite
movie.
He also bought a cardboard
Lamborghini for more than
$10,000 being auctioned for
Starship Hospital in Auckland
in 2021, and then put it up
for auction again for another
charity.
– RNZ
NEWS 3
Family get
house for
Christmas
after waiting
seven years
A DISABLED Christchurch man
and his family have received
some Christmas cheer after
finding themselves in a desperate
housing situation.
Father-of-two Rudolph Delport
is a double leg amputee and is
on kidney dialysis, while his
wife Natasha is unable to work
because of health problems.
He previously told RNZ that
his disability allowance was not
enough to cover his rent in the
private market, alongside growing
health expenses.
Delport feared his family
would eventually be homeless,
after being on the MSD housing
register for seven years.
“We totally understand that
we’re not the only ones in this
situation but we’re also talking
about someone who has a life
expectancy. We’ve actually tried
to find cheaper accommodation,”
said Natasha Delport.
“The doctor (has) said the road
ahead is just going to get worse
and worse and worse for us.”
Following RNZ inquiries with
the Ministry of Social Development,
the Delport family has
been granted accommodation
through Kainga Ora, which will
cut their weekly rental expenses
in half.
Meanwhile, the Christchurch
City Mission said it was having
to turn more people away amid
an increase in requests for food
parcels.
The longstanding charity has
noticed a 10 per cent increase in
parcels being given out over the
past year.
City Missioner Corinne Haines
said Christmas was a tough time
for those most vulnerable.
Over the past six months,
Haines said the charity has
bought three times the value of
the food it bought in the same
period last year. – RNZ
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