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Two Brighton brothers who sold kindling to raise money for Gisborne’s cyclone recovery effort hand-delivered their contribution to Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich yesterday.
Malachi (9) and Zach (7) Turner spent last weekend delivering 50 bags of kindling to their community, raising $170 as part of Local Government New Zealand’s "Adopt a Community" initiative.
The boys’ father Shane said while he handled the adult tasks of chopping the wood and driving the delivery truck, the young duo had done all of the heavy lifting.
"We’re extremely proud.
"Malachi made a good comment on the way in that if something like that happened to us, the cyclone, he would want people to support us."
Malachi said it felt very rewarding to be able to provide people with something useful, while also donating the funds to people who needed it most.
"I felt good, pretty good because we were making people warm and cosy.
"And we’re raising money so people can just live a happy life."
Last year, the brothers also sold kindling to raise money for the SPCA.
They planned to continue selling kindling throughout the winter, but were yet to decide where they would give the proceeds.
Mr Radich said he was "super impressed" with the work Malachi and Zach had done.
"They’ve put in so much effort and done all that firewood - that’s really very good."
He encouraged anyone who was considering donating to Gisborne to follow in the brothers’ footsteps.