In the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, Gisborne was left devastated and isolated from the rest of the country. During this challenging time, the unity of Gisborne shone through to get the region back on track.
At the recent Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, the community and LeaderBrand was collectively recognised as Winners of the 2024 Mitre 10 New Zealand Community of the Year Award Ngā Pou Whirinaki o te Tau.
This award highlights a collective effort by a group who have made an exceptional difference to their community. LeaderBrand was honoured to be recognised as a part of the group involved in Gisborne’s collective efforts in response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
Despite the damage Cyclone Gabrielle caused to LeaderBrand’s Gisborne farm, the team’s core focus remained on getting the community and business back up and running as quickly as possible.
Richard Burke, LeaderBrand’s Chief Executive says that the immediate concern after the cyclone was for his team.
“We went door knocking and left messages at the local radio station to ensure everyone was accounted for. Next came the clean-up, assessing the crop damage and trying to find solutions to deal with the region’s major infrastructure damage.”
With roads blocked in and out of Gisborne, no power or communication and inconsistent water supply for several days, there was a high level of uncertainty.
As part of LeaderBrand’s future farming project, a 40 million litre self-sufficient dam was built, filled-up by capturing water off the roof of their two mega greenhouses.
“We had plenty of filtered, clean water in our dam, so we set about finding ways to support the community as well as getting our own salad house operating.”
LeaderBrand was able to truck in water from the dam to assist Seeka, GisVin, Indevin and the Gisborne council with water.
The region was without telecommunication for weeks. LeaderBrand brought in several Starlinks to get their team communicating again. They were also able to provide Starlinks to six local schools so students were able to get back into the classroom.
“We’re all in this together. For us, community is a big part of our business, so supporting other businesses and schools to get back to normal, was really important to us and exactly what we do.” says Burke.