Acknowledging and raising awareness of these community efforts, two leaders of the organisation, chief executive Jo O’Neill and board chairwoman Stephanie Pettigrew, are embarking on their own fundraising endeavour.
The pair are taking part in the Great Naseby Water Race ultramarathon on August 26 to raise funds for Family Works social services.
Mrs Pettigrew said the ultramarathon comprises a 10km loop in a rough figure-eight shape.
About half of the race is along a forest track, the other half runs along a gravel road and the pair will each run 30km, or three loops of the course.
Mrs Pettigrew had been training for the ultramarathon by running a half marathon every month this year, including taking part in April’s Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town, South Africa.
Ms O’Neill had also been training, and ran in the Tarawera ultramarathon in February.
Mrs Pettigrew said Presbyterian Support Otago was facing one of the biggest financial challenges in its history.
"For the financial year just ended we are about to post our biggest loss ever."
There were significant funding challenges in the aged-care sector, and the organisation relied on those services to help fund their Family Works programme.
Taking part in the ultramarathon was a way to not only highlight the very real challenges of the organisation but also how valuable community fundraising and donations were.
Ms O’Neill said Presbyterian Support Otago recognised many in the community were struggling and it was a crisis everybody was facing.
"But it’s important to still do everything that we possibly can to make sure that we can meet the needs of our community."
Mrs Pettigrew said while this was a big challenge for both of them, there were many people in the community who faced immense challenges every day.
"Whatever we can do to help them is important to us, which is why we are encouraging people to sponsor us by making a donation."
- To give, visit psotago.org.nz/get-involved/charity-run
