Nikau Foundation is establishing individual district funds to cater for those people who do not necessarily see Wellington or the Wellington region as their local community.
The Kāpiti Coast is the first area in the Wellington region to benefit from a community based endowment fund. The Mayor of Kāpiti Coast District Council, Jenny Rowan, hosted the launch of the Nikau Kāpiti Fund recently at the Mayoral Chambers.
“Initial support has been overwhelming,” explains Nikau Foundation Board Chair, Kevin O’Connor. “With over $20,000 already committed to the fund before we have even launched, we are confident that Nikau Kāpiti Fund will develop and grow to be an asset for the whole Kāpiti community.”
Financial advisor, Liz Koh is a keen supporter of the new initiative and is a founder donor: “Everybody in the Kāpiti region, including myself, is a potential recipient of services from local charities. I believe it is important to ensure they have a sustainable future so they are there when needed by ourselves or future generations,” says Ms Koh”
Another Nikau Kāpiti Fund founder donor, Adrienne Bushell, agrees: “My family has been at Waikanae since the 1930s and it gives me great pleasure to give back to the place I love”.
Coastlands CEO, Richard Mansell, is also keen to see the new fund grow and develop. “Coastlands believes that being part of a community requires you to contribute to the wellbeing of that community. For that reason we were happy to become a founder donor of the Nikau Kāpiti Fund”
In the last two years, Nikau Foundation has already donated over $43,000 within the Kāpiti region to diverse projects including Birthright Ōtaki, Youth Quest Trust, Paraparaumu Playcentre, Volunteer Kāpiti, Nga Manu Nature Reserve, Adult Literacy Kāpiti and Ōtaki Timebank.
About Nikau Foundation
The Nikau Foundation is part of a worldwide family of community foundations created to provide a simple, effective and long-lasting ways for people to leave legacies to local causes and to ensure these gifts will achieve maximum benefit into the future.
Nikau Foundation is an independent charitable trust created for the benefit for the people of the greater Wellington region. The Foundation attracts funds and bequests from generous donors and invests the funds to preserve the capital and generate income. It provides grants from the income for charitable projects
