Mayoral Disaster Relief Fund
The Mayoral Disaster Relief Fund - Closed
The Mayoral Disaster Relief Fund (MDRF) fund was set up for residents, ratepayers, small business owners or not-for-profit organisations who suffered financial hardship because of damages caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Our Council received donations to the Mayoral Disaster Relief Fund totaling $1,151,127. This was made up of both government agency funding as well as public donations.
| Funding Allocations |
Amount |
| MDRf initial funding round - 203 of 207 applicants received funding |
$437,000 |
| Social Recovery Fund - through Community Waikato funding round |
$300,000 |
| Sport Waikato Fund - contribution to Sport Waikato funding round |
$40,000 |
| Community Event Fund - for wellbeing events |
$50,000 |
| Community Resilience Fund |
$184,000 |
| Impacted Whānau Care Packs for Social Navigator visits |
$5,000 |
| Christmas hamper contributions |
$15,000 |
| Increasing Older Adults Resilience campaign |
$60,000 |
| Community Connector Services and food bank agencies |
$35,000 |
TOTAL
|
$1,126,000 |
Currently $25,000 remains unallocated. The distribution of the remaining funds will be decided by the Mayoral Disaster Relief Fund panel in due course.
The panel reviewed and decided on all the allocations; it consists of Cllr John Morrissey, Cllr Rekha Giri-Percival and community representative Nikky Fisher, Chief Executive of the Hauraki Māori Trust Board.
The Mayoral Disaster Relief Fund was designed to support the needs of affected individuals, families, community organisations, small businesses and marae. In its initial round, the fund had 207 applications; 16 from community organisations; 127 from small business; 64 from individuals/families.
Successful applicants received a grant of either $1,000 or $2,500 depending on their individual circumstances. To receive a grant, applicants had to demonstrate that they needed financial assistance with the following criteria:
- Cleaning debris from properties where people are uninsured or underinsured
- Supporting individuals/families faced with hardships as a result of the emergency
- Assisting small businesses impacted by the emergency
- Assisting people with basic needs, household goods and personal items where the individual/family is uninsured or underinsured
- Assisting with insurance excess payments.
Rates relief in stormy times
Our Council is doing all it can to help property-owners whose homes have been badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle. Properties that have been deemed uninhabitable (red stickered) were granted a rates remission. Usually, we ask homeowners to apply for this. But in the case of this cyclone, we automatically granted a rates remission during the period people’s properties are officially marked as uninhabitable.