Lake Taupō Rotary and Rotorua Passport Rotary are joining forces to help communities in Tonga.

Surplus goods and equipment are being collected from schools, motels, hotels, healthcare and rest home facilities to be sent to the Pacific Islands nation where resources are not as readily available.

It is part of the Rotary International vision to support and improve the lives of impoverished people.

Rotary New Zealand focuses much of its international efforts on preparing for and reacting to major natural disasters in the Pacific through its commitment to Rotary NZ World Community Service (RNZWCS).

Local Rotary clubs extend this support to collecting and shipping surplus goods to Pacific Islands nations that do not have the same resources as New Zealand.

Lake Taupō Rotary international director Donald Bowie says Rotary is involved in many projects in its own community, as well as all over the world.

"One of the things we're looking for is school equipment such as desks, chairs, whiteboards. Then there are things like bed linen, which we hope the accommodation sector will provide. Then maybe some stuff like wheelchairs and walking frames from healthcare centres and rest homes.

"Every couple of months, depending on how long it takes to fill a container, we ship that container to one of the islands and at the moment we're focusing on Tonga."

He says in just a month a container is already "virtually full" with school equipment from Hilltop School, Mountview School and Tauhara College.

"We got about 100 chairs from Mountview, Hilltop gave us about 60 chairs and desks. Tauhara College is going through a major rebuild, so we've put a container in their carpark and they are going to put excess equipment that they no longer want to keep in the new part of the school, in there.

"The container we send to Tonga will be packed like a sardine can."

Hilltop School principal Andrea Hunter says the school was eager to be involved.

"I think it is a great initiative where furniture that has been stored for several years can be repurposed and used for other students elsewhere. Rather than throwing used items away, others are able to benefit from them."

Tauhara College principal Ben Hancock says the school got behind the project because it did not want equipment to go to waste during the rebuild.

"We wanted to recycle as much as we can. While we've got a temporary school being built and a new one on the horizon, we didn't want anything that could be used elsewhere to go to waste.

"This was a good opportunity to partner up with Rotary, who do some great work for our community and in the Pacific.

"There will be some korero [with the students] around the story; giving back, sharing when you have the opportunity to do so, and helping others out who are less fortunate. We'll be using those messages in school, for sure."

The container sitting at Tauhara College has provided free of charge by Citi-Box Containers.

Anyone planning to replace items, or perhaps has a surplus, and is willing to donate these goods, please contact: David Jopson, Lake Taupō Rotary, 027288896, dpjopson@gmail.com or Donald Bowie, Lake Taupō Rotary, 0274752473, donald.bowie@orcon.net.nz.

Credit:NZHerald.co.nz