Mr Perkins, the instigator of a charity called ''It's Not About Us'', was one of the organisers of the Van-Aid concert staged in Alexandra on Sunday night, which raised more than $10,000 for Vanuatu residents.
Among the 600-strong crowd were about 150 seasonal workers from Vanuatu, based in Central Otago.
They performed as part of the concert, donated to the fund themselves and were overwhelmed by the show of support for their cyclone-torn country.
Mr Perkins was still on a high yesterday and admitted being ''blown away'' by the success of the event.
''I was hugely surprised by the crowd that turned up - I thought the audience might be as many as 250 people.''
''And as the title of our trust says, it's not about us. The concert was lots of fun and the phenomenal support shows how highly regarded our Vanuatu workers are. They were humbled and grateful - I've never been hugged by so many Vanuatuans.''
The two-hour concert in the Alexandra Baptist Church featured 11 acts.
It included Central Otago musicians and singers who donated their time and money, as well as items from several groups of Vanuatuans.
The evening started with a minute's silence for those who lost their lives in the cyclone.
Mr Perkins said the charity had already built up contacts in Vanuatu because of projects it had carried out there, and all the proceeds from the concert would go directly where it was needed - ''we have no administration costs or overheads''.
Workers from Vanuatu had enriched the Central Otago community and this was a chance to give something back, he said.
Meanwhile, an appeal fund set up by the Seasonal Solutions co-operative, which provides seasonal workers for the horticulture and viticulture industries, has reached about $31,000.
Donations had come in from all over the South Island, Seasonal Solutions chief executive Greg Watson said yesterday.
The co-operative is supporting more than 650 people from Vanuatu who are working in this country.
Of that number, 440 are based in Central Otago.
''I'm pretty humbled by the support for the appeal. It's incredible how many people want to help out. It shows how highly regarded the Vanuatuans are who work here.
"Their work ethic and performance is just outstanding and every time they come back here, their skills just continue to improve and they have more understanding of orcharding and viticulture.''
Mr Watson said the money raised in the appeal would be targeted at assisting the men and women who were working here.
It had been a stressful time and some workers wanted to return home as soon as possible, which was understandable.
''Everyone's situation is different. Some want to return home straight away and we're arranging that as quickly as we can, while others plan to stay on here until the work runs out in mid-late May so we're supporting everyone as best we can.''
Rallying to help
It's Not About Us
• Charitable Trust, set up by three Alexandra men- Wayne Perkins, Matthew Born and Pete Scarlet
• Aim is to ''help those who can't help themselves''.
• The trust's mission is to find, develop and implement solutions that target the root causes of poverty, suffering and need.
• Trust's first project was in 2013, installing a self-powered water pump for a village in Vanuatu.
Seasonal Solutions
• Grower and contractor-owned employment co-operative set up a decade ago to address seasonal labour shortages.
• Matches workers to jobs, mostly in the horticulture and viticulture industries.
• Probably best known as co-ordinator of Recognised Seasonal Employer placements from the Pacific Islands.
• Has 656 workers from Vanuatu based in Central Otago, Marlborough and Canterbury.
