A crafty community comes together for good

Small business owner Helen Kelly utilised her community to support hospice by sharing some of the proceeds of her online auction with Nelson Tasman Hospice. With the help of her small business world friends, Helen sold handmade items at a $1 or $5 reserve on Facebook. Little reserves all add up, because she presented Nelson Tasman Hospice with a $500 donation in October 2023.  

Helen, who owns sewing business Ezybabe, says her previous work as a caregiver in a retirement home exposed her to Nelson Tasman Hospice’s work in the community and made her want to help. While her online auction initially stemmed from wanting to help pay her mother’s dementia care bill, she felt that Hospice’s work ‘did not receive enough recognition’ and shared some of the money with Nelson Tasman Hospice as well as Alzheimer’s NZ and her mother’s care home.  

“Hospice does an amazing job and is so much more than what people think it is,” Helen says, emphasising the anticipated need for Hospice involvement as her mother ages. “I think it’s a vital service, that let’s face it, we will all need someday.” Nelson Tasman Hospice provides specialist palliative care services for people of all ages with life-limiting illnesses, supporting them, their whānau and carers, through illness, death and bereavement. The colleagues work as a team, knowing that people with life-limiting illnesses need a holistic approach to their care, not only focusing on physical symptoms but also supporting patients and their whānau with the social, emotional, and spiritual impact of their illness. The level of care provided is based on the needs of the patient and whānau.  

Helen encourages others to get fundraising for Nelson Tasman Hospice, saying, “We all have some skill or something we can do that will help others. Fundraising events can be fun…and can achieve so much good.” If you think you can use your skills to help raise funds for Nelson Tasman Hospice, reach out to fundraising@nelsonhospice.org.nz. We would love to have you as part of our compassionate community.