Whānau Celebration – A Community Effort

"We’re particularly passionate about helping youth, as it’s where we believe we can make the greatest impact in a person’s life, and I Have a Dream does exactly that, supporting young people during a critical time in their lives,”

Danny Blampied - RRT Director and Volunteer

This year’s annual Whānau Celebration Day was another huge success with Dreamers and their whānau coming together with our Navigators to spend an evening playing games, attempting circus tricks, making the most of the many exciting rides on offer and sharing delicious kai.

Thanks to the generous support of local organisations, the event went off without a hitch. Special thanks to our Dream Partner Northland Waste for providing rubbish bins free of charge, ensuring Totara Grove School was spotless by the end of the night. The Soundcave generously supplied the AV system, which added music to enhance the ambience. Finally, we would like to express our deep gratitude to the Northland Rapid Relief Team (RRT) for their ongoing commitment to providing tasty meals for everyone.

For the past five years, we’ve been fortunate to rely on RRT’s support at our events. The organisation, which delivers hope and relief across the globe, is always ready to respond to fire, flood, or humanitarian needs.

In Northland, RRT has 338 volunteers across six bases, focusing on four key areas: Emergency Relief, Homelessness, Poverty & Hardship, Health and Disability, and Youth. This dedication is something we see firsthand through their invaluable support of our events.

RRT Director and volunteer Danny Blampied explains they chose to support I Have a Dream by providing food at our events because they recognise our efforts to meet numerous community needs.

“We’re particularly passionate about helping youth, as it’s where we believe we can make the greatest impact in a person’s life, and I Have a Dream does exactly that, supporting young people during a critical time in their lives.”

For our 2025 Whānau Celebration, RRT’s expert team aimed to serve 1,600 meals, and they came close to hitting that target with 1,550 meals provided to our Dreamers and their whānau. This included 500 sausage sandwiches, 1,050 burgers, and 1,200 water bottles.

Danny said he was thrilled with the outcome, “RRT volunteers serve quality food and refreshments to children at youth-focused events. Through the support we provide, we aim to raise awareness and funds for charitable or government organisations we’re supporting and to bring a smile to children’s faces.”

And it was an evening full of laughter, connection, and a true sense of community. Thank you again to RRT, Northland Waste, The Soundcave and all those who helped make this event such a success.