Non-governmental organisations who service the vulnerable in the community felt “blessed” to have received donations from the Apostolic Church.

Bishop Tutai Pere of the Apostolic Church presented cash donations to Autism Cook Islands, Te Vaerua Community Rehabilitation Service, The Creative Centre, Te Are Pa Metua and Te Kainga “as a token of our love and giving back to the community”.

The Apostolic Church fundraising catering crew has been exceptionally busy catering for many events throughout the Constitutions Celebrations.

Bishop Pere said he was “most impressed” with the efficiency and efforts of the church’s catering kitchen, whose productivity has benefitted from the expertise of one of its members Tua Manea, the head chef at The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Lagoonarium.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive,” Bishop Pere said.

“Because of the blessings from the Lord” and after consultations with the Apostolic Church’s executive committee, it was decided to gift $500 to each of the five charity organisations, said Bishop Pere.

Te Vaerua Community Rehabilitation Service manager Maine Beniamina was extremely grateful to receive the donation which will help purchase more equipment, such as crutches and wheelchairs.

“We are blessed to receive this gift from the Apostolic Church which is needed to assist with the quality of life our people,” such as the bedridden, persons with amputations, and stroke cases, said Beniamina.

The Creative Centre’s operations manager Danny Tixier is well aware of the struggles that NGO’s encounter, and showed his appreciation and gratitude to the Apostolic Church.

Creative Centre operations manager Danny Tixier is grateful for the church’s support. “The work is sometimes challenging…and we do think we are alone sometimes.” 22090402

“Working on our own and alone looking after our vulnerable, persons with disabilities and our elderly, the work is sometimes challenging,” said Tixier.

“And we do think we are alone sometimes and the funding that we have is not good enough, but we make do with what funding we’ve got – we make things stretch and we all try our best to get positive outcomes. We don’t complain, we just work hard.

“It is a blessing that the Apostolic Church has given us this donation since there are areas in which we run out of things constantly,” said Tixier.

Tepaeru Teaukura nee Nicholas from Te Are Pa Metua was moved by the Apostolic Church donation. 22090403

The NGOs strive to deliver a quality service and a safe service to the vulnerable people in the Cook Islands and are “extremely grateful” for the Apostolic Church’s donation and words of comfort.

Mama Tepaeru Teaukura nee Nicholas from Te Are Pa Metua was so moved by the kind gesture she insisted on making her own speech, thanking the Apostolic Church for their consistent contributions – including food – to their centre over the years.