Tuesday 12 March 2024
Personal growth
Having a blast PAGE 11
Touch season winds up PAGE 21
PAGE 6
Marlborough Boys’ College student Manaia Huntley with Kandoo Kiwi and Paul Eden from Springlands Lifestyle Village. Photo: William Woodworth.
Sky high celebrations PAULA HULBURT A charity that’s helped thousands of Marlborough students is celebrating turning ten – and wants people to leap from the skies to celebrate. Children across Marlborough have been benefitting from the Graeme Dingle life skills initiative Kiwi Can for a decade. And to mark the momentous milestone, staff have revealed their popular Drop for Youth
fundraiser will again go to great heights. Regional Manager Kelvin Watt says the parachute drop is a great way to pay it forward. “We know that there are many more Marlburians waiting for this opportunity to step, jump, fall or be pushed out of their comfort zone… so we’re bringing everyone together and providing that space again this year. “What better way to celebrate a decade of making a difference,
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
than paying it forward for the next decade.” One of the first to sign up was Marlborough Boys’ College student Manaia Huntley. After going through a cancer battle, Manaia says Kiwi Can helped him realise his potential. “I had heard people calling me resilient during my [cancer] treatment, but I didn’t understand what the word meant. “In Kiwi Can we learned about important values like resilience.
To me resilience is never giving up and trying again and again no matter how hard something might be. “Kiwi Can helped me realise that I was super resilient, and knowing this is something that will help me for the rest of my life.” Manaia says he met children during his cancer treatment who did not survive. By doing the charity jump and pledging to raise a minimum of $1000, Manaia says he is also
honouring those youngsters by making the most of every opportunity. “I want to do everything I can to make them proud. I can do this by making the most of every opportunity that comes my way like jumping out of a plane. “You never know what can happen in life and I think the most important thing is to be a good person and help other people.”
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marlboroughapp.co.nz