Check your couches, says Fastway CEO, as Lions award recognises franchise’s role in collecting 20 tonnes of cash to help Kiwi kids

Fastway Couriers was recognised at the Lions Clubs’ annual international ANZI Pacific Forum, which took place in Auckland earlier this month.  

The highly coveted Lloyd Morgan Lions Clubs Charitable Trust Benefactor Award was presented to Fastway Couriers’ CEO, Scott Jenyns, for its longstanding support of Heads Up For Kids (HU4K), a charity which urges all New Zealanders to donate foreign currency and obsolete coins to raise money for education programmes for underprivileged children.

Fastway Couriers has been the Exclusive Courier Sponsor for the HU4K charity for the past five consecutive years, with participating depots donating their time to pick up coin collection boxes and deliver them to a central point for counting.   

Scott Jenyns, CEO of Fastway Couriers New Zealand said, ‘It’s an honour to receive this award on behalf of the Fastway team members who have given up their time to make these deliveries happen for such a worthy charity.  We urge all New Zealanders to check behind their couches, in their clothes dryers and underneath their car seats for any forgotten obsolete or foreign coins to donate to HU4K.’

Joanne Cameron, Trust Chairman of HU4K said, ‘Fastway has helped HU4K to collect over eight million coins, weighing 20 tonnes, which has raised more than $500,000 to fund education programmes and scholarships for more than 150 Kiwi kids around the country.  We present very few benefactor awards, therefore this is a prestigious accolade for us to give and it’s truly deserved by Scott, his team and everyone at the participating Fastway depots.’

 Using old money wisely

Obsolete currency and foreign coins which are collected by HU4K are traded with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, recycling organisations and foreign currency dealers to fund education programmes for Kiwi kids. Over 100 young people have already benefited from HU4K fundraising to date.  Some of the projects that have been funded by HU4K include scholarships to organisations such as Spirit of Adventure and Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centres; grants for hart walkers for children who are unable to walk, generally as a result of having cerebral palsy; and Discovery for Teens courses, which help troubled children to turn their lives around.

To make a donation to HU4K, please visit your nearest Resene Colorshop (Nationwide) or New World stores (Wellington, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Taranaki, and Hawkes Bay) or call 0800 OLD MONEY for a Lions Clubs member to collect.

For further information on HU4K, visit http://www.lionsclubs.org.nz/what-do-we-do/projects/heads-up-for-kids