The all-time donation total jumped to $3,302,484.59 thanks to the 26,227 visitors to givealittle.co.nz.

Top beneficiaries of April donations were:

1. Anna’s Army by Helen Blazey
2. Galz Trust by supporters of Amanda Lowry
3. Help us finish the Marist Centre Ranong by the New Zealand Marist Mission Ranong

Average donation was $71 and the largest single donation was $4,500 to ensure the New Zealand Marist Mission could complete their new school, health and community building in Ranong.

There were over 62 charity champions in April.  Special mention this month goes to business journalist and Hikurangi Foundation trustee Rod Oram, who is going the extra mile to raise funds on Givealittle for the Bikes in Schools social enterprise.

“My Ironman/Triathlon journey all started just over two years ago now when I decided, with my wife’s blessing, that before my body got too old and broken that I needed to tick an Ironman off my bucket list. For those of you that don’t know an Ironman consists of a 3.8km Swim followed by a 180km cycle a 42.2km run.

Fast forward to a few days after Challenge Wanaka 2013 I received an email from Triathlon New Zealand congratulating me on making the NZ Long Distance triathlon team to compete in Belfort, France on the 1^st June 2013. It was surprising and pretty humbling being asked to represent your country when you have no expectation of ever doing so.  That said I’m proud to have been asked and now look forward to travelling and competing with the rest of the NZ team consisting of 70 athletes.

The Long Distance World champs is a 4km swim, 120km bike and 30km run on a challenging course, the bike includes the Ballon D’Alsace which is a mountain climb that has been used in the Tour De France multiple times.

I am now in the peak training weeks prior to tapering before leaving on the 16th May, and so far it’s been hard resuming full training so close to Ironman NZ but slowly the body is responding and training is going well. This has all been a massive learning curve for me in terms of triathlon, it’s an awesome sport, very rewarding but it’s also a very selfish sport due to so much time that is spent training and it’s also very expensive!!

I have to thank everyone from my coach Andrew MacKay, training buddies, work colleagues, friends and supporters who are awesome, but mostly my family who are always there for me.”

Mike’s Results so far…

• Mission Bay Olympic Distance Triathlon December 2011 – 2hrs 23min
• Challenge Wanaka Half Ironman January 2012 – 5hr 6min
• Ironman NZ Taupo March 2012(Shortened to Half Ironman due to weather) 4hrs 51min
• Taupo Half Ironman December 2012 – 4hr 48min 5th 35-39 Age Group
• Challenge Wanaka Half Ironman January 2013 – 4hr 43min 9th Overall 1st 40-44 Age Group
• Ironman NZ Taupo March 2013 – 10hr 4min 65th Overall 12th 40-44 Age Group
• Long Distance World Champs Belfort France June 2013 – TBA

You can support Mike through his Givealittle page.

Recently, Anna and her husband were blindsided by the news that Anna had breast cancer.  Within days, Anna had undergone a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery, ahead of an aggressive and exhausting regime of chemotherapy.

Helen could not have felt further away from her oldest friend, nor more helpless.  But she soon discovered Givealittle and figured there was something she could do even from the far side of Australia.

Although Anna and her husband had medical insurance, Helen decided to fundraise to help them out with all those additional costs that mount up.  Anticipating that these would be considerable, Helen set a target of $10,000.  Amazingly, within the first 24 hours Anna’s supporters had achieved that target!  And it seems Anna’s friends were not to be deterred by a nominal target – the money has kept coming in. By the end of April almost a further $4000 had been donated.

A Facebook page for “Anna’s Army” has worked well in conjunction with the Givealittle page, enabling Helen to rally the troops and keep supporters informed of Anna’s progress. You, too, can support Anna in her battle against breast cancer.

Among other things, Reece was born with a malformed jaw and minus one ear canal.  This has led to sleep apnoea, partial deafness, respiratory problems, and an inability to eat properly or talk. He and his mum Michelle have been travelling from their home in Bulls to Palmerston North Hospital almost every day and have lost count of the visits to Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland, but estimate it is upwards of 50.

On top of all the other challenges he has faced, he has now been diagnosed with lung disease. This has launched them into a regime of daily physio. Michelle says she can see it work – “In the morning he is all chesty but afterwards it’s just a dry cough.”

Reece also has a new machine to wear when he sleeps to deal with the apnoea. The machine feeds oxygen into his nose so that if he stops breathing, the machine can do it for him. Reece wasn’t at all keen on the machine at first, but with an understanding beyond his years, he knew he had to bear it. Along with the myriad of other treatments he has taken it in his stride.

As if Reece’s problems weren’t enough, in the midst of all this, the family has faced a raft of other challenges including lost jobs, post-natal depression and a house fire. Looking after Reece and the household is a full-time job for Michelle while her husband works away from home to pay the bills.

Michelle is now trying to get an adjustable hospital bed for Reece after doctors recommended one to help his breathing. It isn’t funded, so Michelle turned to Givealittle to give the community an opportunity to pitch in to help pay for one. They quickly gained their first $700 in donations and Michelle found it heartwarming to see the donations mount up through Givealittle. But it was going to take a good bit more to fund the bed.

Then the team at stuff.co.nz got hold of Reece’s story and gave it pole position on their front page, with a link to Reece’s Givealittle page. The impact was powerful. The stuff.co.nz team got the ball rolling with their own donation. Then the community started to chip in. In the first three hours the figure had climbed to over $8,000.  By the following morning a further $5,000 had been added to support Reece and his family.

Make a donation to support Reece’s family and help little Reece get his special bed.

As a charitable trust, they rely on community support to fund surgeries and treatments and the other costs of supporting the cats. Their partnership with Givealittle enables their small team of volunteers to achieve this and to date they have raised nearly $13,000.

The team also uses dedicated cause pages to fundraise for special projects.  Recently, in just one week they were able to find the funds they needed to cover eye surgery for two cat brothers.  Find out more about Duncan and Nelson’s very special case.

They also work through the social networks to promote awareness.  You can get the good oil about their latest crusades for the cats of Christchurch on their Facebook page.

For Cat Rescue Christchurch to continue this work their quest for fundraising support is ongoing and they welcome your donation.

As Jaden grows up he finds accessibility and keeping up with friends and family increasingly challenging in a standard wheelchair. An all-terrain chair or motorised device that can be attached to his wheelchair when needed would allow him to wheel over rougher surfaces and up hills, giving him a lot more independence.

Check out Jaden’s Facebook page and you get the idea that he is something of a mini superhero. In spite of his health and mobility setbacks, including multiple surgeries, this kid heads out with a huge smile on his face chasing every challenge. Not content with one Weet-Bix TRYathlon, he has four under his belt so far. Among other things, Jaden is frequently found rattling buckets and helping to give profile to fundraising events for different organisations. It’s not surprising then that he attracts the company of stars and gets himself into newspapers and on the telly!

Jaden’s family are really proud of their fun-loving go-getter with ‘a fan base of people all over the world.’  Mum Lise tells us that he “gets on with life and is changing attitudes wherever he goes. He has been behind charities such as Starship Foundation, StarJam and Riding for the Disabled, assisting in raising money for them. This is the first time we are fundraising just for Jaden.”

Jaden’s new wheels don’t come cheap. So his mum’s friend, Alex Couling, got the Givealittle ball rolling by setting herself up as a champion for Jaden.  She’s rounded up a bunch of supporters to enter the Tough Guy and Girl Challenge in July and the team is dedicating all their sponsorship money to Jaden.

In all, Jaden’s crew needs to raise $8,000 for Jaden’s whizzy new chair. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, by the end of April the total was heading towards the $2000 mark – nearly quarter of the way there. Make a contribution to help Jaden reach his target.

Update! The Mazda Foundation have granted Jaden’s wish with a generous donation of $6,150 ensuring he now has the $8,000 needed.

Laura was a 13-year-old living in Illinois when her cousin Michael handed her a book by Stella Adler. It kindled a love of acting that became a life passion.

In 2006, Laura left the US in search of adventure, first teaching in Korea before adopting New Zealand as her place of choice to raise her son.  Laura is now ensconced in the Nelson theatre scene as drama coordinator at Nelson College.

Laura’s acting career has gone from strength to strength in New Zealand, with fresh opportunities to perform and train.  However, like all actors, she is finding that getting ahead and trying to earn a living from acting is no easy task.

Laura’s quest to take her career to the next level and to develop as a teacher of acting drew her back to her original inspiration. Joining a throng of international applicants, Laura was thrilled to learn that she was one of only 26 selected to study at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York

The Stella Adler Studio is one of the most prestigious acting schools in the world.  It counts among its alumni Marlon Brando and Kevin Costner.  Laura has the opportunity to undertake a five week intensive Shakespeare course there.

Having achieved what may have looked impossible, Laura now needs the money to realise her dream – not easy when you’re raising a family on a low income. But Laura and her partner are adventurers and they’ve decided they’re up for the challenge.

Nelson Mail got behind Laura’s quest with a feature article profiling her story. Another important part of Laura’s strategy to raise support has been turning to the Givealittle community.  While she thinks she has the course costs covered, she needs enough of a fund to cover her living costs while she’s away. She’s off to a good start but needs a fair bit more to make the trip viable. Help Laura take up this once in a lifetime opportunity in New York.

So the team working to rebuild Salesatele has made it a priority to install a water tank to serve as back-up when the main supply fails and also to restore the toilet block.

Former rugby star Luke Gates became a rugby ambassador following stints playing for the Auckland under-21s and Lyon.  He moved to Samoa to raise his family and will soon be made a chief of the village.  Luke has called on family members to pitch in to support the village’s recovery efforts.

One of Luke’s cousins was left speculating about the possibility of fundraising in the wider community but was initially put off by the prevalence of commissions.  But Givealittle offered the opportunity to direct all funds raised straight to the cause.

The purchase of the tanks has already been arranged, so the additional funds will enable their installation and cover replacement of the wrecked toilet block. That’s just a starting point, though, as all funds raised can go to help rebuild other parts of the village.

This is an urgent plea. As soon as the funds are in, the tanks can be installed to help avoid further disruption to the water supply.

Luke’s cousin Anna says this is her first effort at ‘crowdfunding’.  Anna told Givealittle, “This was something I believed in, and I thought it was worth bugging people about. People seem to like the fact that it’s going straight to the people in need, without any intermediaries or deductions.”

Be a part of helping Salesatele get their water supply and sanitation sorted out as soon as they can

Ben now wears a prosthetic eye. Like any kid of nearly four Ben is growing fast, so the new eye needs to be changed frequently – several times a year – to make sure it still fits well.

In addition, Ben is having ongoing tests, including scans and blood tests, to make sure that the cancer hasn’t spread. For these tests his family have to make the long haul to Christchurch.

“Although we feel very lucky that Ben’s cancer has a 95% survival rate, there is still a tiny amount of uncertainty, which for us as parents is haunting. So we will do everything in our power to ensure Ben has as many check-ups as we can get to eliminate any chance of an undetected spread of the tumour,” says Ben’s mum Abi.

Ben’s family are so proud of how brave he’s been, but they say the trauma has taken its toll on the wee fella. He’s now too scared to sleep in bed on his own.

Between them, the costs of his medical treatments represent a mounting burden on Ben’s family. They were determined to weather them alone, but this has become unrealistic.

So friends have launched into fundraising mode. The Facebook page that follows Ben’s story highlights the generosity of the Wanaka community, who are really getting behind Ben’s family. The family has also involved Givealittle to give the community an easy way of adding their own donations to help.

Go to Ben’s Givealittle cause page to make a donation to help with his ongoing medical costs.

Then out of the blue in December 2012 he suffered a two-hour seizure and his life – and his family’s lives – changed forever.

After tests and a course of antibiotics Mostyn was diagnosed with anti-NMDA (N-methyl D-aspartate) receptor encephalitis. The condition causes the sufferer to lose their bodily functions, including the ability to talk, walk, sit, swallow and breathe.

Anti-NMDA-R encephalitis is a newly discovered autoimmune disease. Mostyn’s parents have been told it could take their son anywhere from months to years to recover. Full recovery is not guaranteed and it’s likely he will have some ongoing issues.

Mostyn has battled away with the disease for over three months, and it’s just the beginning. His family needs to renovate their house to ensure he not only maintains his health with a suppressed immune system, but also so he is able to move around.

They also need specialist care equipment at home and have the added costs of regular trips to Auckland Hospital from their home in Whangarei.

The family has borrowed money from relatives to protect their home.

Meanwhile, they are doing all they can to help their little boy as he endures ongoing insomnia, seizures and, recently, a bout of pneumonia.

As well as covering the overwhelming costs that now face them, Mostyn’s family would like to take their brave little battler to visit his favourite TV character, Mickey Mouse.

Find out more about Mostyn’s brave battle in this Northern Advocate story.

Support Mostyn and his family on their Givealitte cause page.