ITI Articles

Students and staff at New Zealand Management Academies (NZMA) have been working hard to brighten the lives of terminally ill Kiwi kids.

As part of the Project Management and Team Leadership component of their diploma course, NZMA students recently organised a charity auction to raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation.  This organisation aims to create hope and happiness by granting the wishes of children and young people (aged 3 – 17) living with life-threatening illnesses.

Held on December 5, the ‘White Christmas Charity Bid Dinner, Auction and Dance’ raised $2400 for Make a Wish.  More than 30 items went up for auction including petrol and restaurant vouchers, hair cuts, jewellery, games and even driving lessons! All of the goods and services had been donated by students, staff and stakeholders.

Guests were also treated to drinks and a full dinner followed by music and dancing.

“It was an extremely successful event and quite unique because there was no cost involved towards the purchasing/procuring of items up for grabs that evening; everything was kindly donated,” says NZMA’s Auckland Central Academy Manager Nishat Elavia.

“The evening was truly like none other in terms of both entertainment value and money raised.  It’s a good feeling to know that we are helping to make a difference to the community we so proudly serve.”

The two teams of students (‘Team United’ and ‘Team Swords’) who organised and ran the event were assessed on their performance as part of their course requirements.

Tutor Deborah Hudson said she was extremely proud of what they had achieved and was looking to encourage other students to organise further charity fundraisers in the future.

“There are so many positive aspects to these kinds of events.  Not only is it a fantastic, authentic way for students to gain experience and be assessed, but it is also a wonderful way for NZMA to give back to the community.

“For this particular project the two classes had a mere six weeks to form themselves into a united team and then only eight days to organise a charity auction, dinner and dance – that in itself is commendable,” she said.

“Every aspect of the evening was entirely student run and coordinated.  I was overwhelmed and incredibly proud of my students – they raised a significant amount of money for the charity and were very passionate about what they were doing.”