The four finalists for this year’s Impact100 Whakatipu grants have been revealed.

Queenstown’s Baskets of Blessing, the Queenstown Electrification Accelerator, Te  Atamira Whakatipu Community Trust and Life Education Trust are all in the running to receive a $100,000 and $85,000 grant, with the two runners-up to receive the balance of this year’s funding pool.

In its seventh year, Impact100 harnesses the power of collective giving, by local women pooling their donations and voting to decide where the funding will go at a special event next month.

Baskets of Blessing is seeking funding to help realise the first stage of a new operations and distribution centre, to bring its food rescue, storage, meal preparation and distribution activities together under one roof, aiming to increase capacity, improve food safety and working conditions for volunteers, and enable the charity — established in 2009 — to provide greater support to people in need across the Whakatipu.

The Queenstown Electrification Accelerator wants to expand a programme designed to help local households reduce energy costs and improve efficiency and resilience.

With a particular focus on renters and lower-income households, the QEA Household & Community Programme would combine workshops, practical education and direct household support, while positioning Queenstown as a ‘pilot community’ for energy transition in New Zealand.

If they’re successful, the Te Atamira Whakatipu Community Trust will use the $100,000 grant to embed accessibility across its organisation and creative programmes, removing barriers that prevent people from participating in the arts.

The programme has a particular focus on underserved groups, including disabled and neurodiverse people, Māori and Pasifika communities, older adults and rangatahi.

And the Life Education Trust, best known for Harold the giraffe and its mobile classrooms, is looking for funding to upgrade its Southern Lakes mobile classroom and improve the accessibility, sustainability and inclusivity of its programmes.
Their project includes a compliant wheelchair hoist, an interior refresh, a new ‘Big Harold’ mascot suit and a more energy efficient vehicle for their educator.

Impact100 Whakatipu grant committee chair Tess Wethey says the breadth and strength of this year’s finalists reflects the different ways organisations are responding to the needs of Queenstown’s community.

“They are very different projects, but each has demonstrated a compelling need, a strong case for support and the potential to make a meaningful difference.”

Impact100 supporters will now learn more about each of the organisations and their proposed projects before casting their votes at the Impact100 Awards and Gala.

tracey.roxburgh@scene.co.nz