Spreading the love

Whether it’s sports teams, schools, foodbanks, firefighters, or “anything local”, Pak N Save Blenheim will be nearing a century of contributions to the Marlborough community this year.

After supporting 93 organisations last year, Pak N’ Save Blenheim owners Mark and Andrea Elkington and their team are aiming to show even more support for Marlboorugh community groups this year.

“We get so many enquiries from worthwhile organisations doing great community focused across the region, so in our eyes the only way to make it fair is to give a little bit to a lot of different causes”, says Mark.

“It’s credit to the great culture at work where we have weekly team meetings and get everyone involved in community driven causes with our monthly support budget that we’ll be close to supporting 100 organisations this year”.

“Supermarkets are such front-facing operations, and I think giving back to the community that supports us comes part and parcel with the job that’s been instilled in me and especially Andrea – a third-generation grocer herself - to give back however it’s needed”.

The value of community charity that Mark and Andrea believe in extends throughout the store’s staff, with new causes and fundraising ideas encouraged.

“Being able to give something back a little bit across many causes is brilliant and with a business the size of Pak N Save, we love to be able to play this role in the community”, says store manager Matthew Coxall.

“Relay for Life and supporting the Cancer Society reaches lots of people's lives, but manyreach out to Andrea individually, especially the smaller groups, which is very much through the relationship of Mark and Andrea with the local community.

“Bigger contributions like the Relay For Life is a national charter for Pak N Save but how we contribute is down to the team in stock - we tend to try and do something once a quarter giving back to the local community and make everyone feel good while doing some good.

“Personally, the contributions we make to the Inspire Foundation helping local talented kids follow their dreams really showed me the impact we can have for local kids in the top echelon of their field as helping create their future is just impactful”.

And their goals for this year’s support set on expansion, ideas for how the staff can contribute are top of mind.

“We consider anything that’s a good connection to the Marlborough community in general and a sausage sizzle is one of the quickest way to raise funds for the relay, but we want to have more variety doing car washes, quizzes – and that variety is something we’re hoping to do more of this year”.