Four Square Pirongia owner/operator Chris McDonnell
Four Square Pirongia owner/operator Chris McDonnell said they want to support their community as much as possible.
Pirongia Village was a near ghost town on Monday with State Highway 39 closed off to the lower North Island. Photo: Jesse Wood
“We’re happy to be the community hub. If it’s coming to use our phone or whatever we can do,” McDonnell said.
Water issues and road closure could go on for weeks, potentially months.
McDonnell said friends at Coromandel stores have given them tips on how to support their community and staff.
“We’ve put a post on the community Facebook group with our phone numbers and emails to get in touch for any bits and bobs needed,” McDonnell said.
“We’re selling hot chickens for $10 for the rest of the week, because people haven’t got power and they’re busy cleaning up.
“They can come and get something to feed the family.”
Fresh produce left unsold will be donated to Food Rescue.
“It’s all a bit of an unknown. Our locals have been great, they’re supporting us,” McDonnell said.
“We’ll be endeavouring to go to the bakery, the Hive and Mountain Folk ourselves.
“I don’t mind drinking a few more coffees, and a few more pies is fine by me.”
Pirongia Community Association community connecter and Civil Defence warden Ruth Webb said the businesses need community support.
Due to the State Highway 39 closure, there’s not much trade happening.
“Everybody’s rallying together. There’s some amazing stories coming out – resilience and adapting to what’s happened,” Webb said.
“People haven’t been shy of asking and people have provided their needs. That’s been pretty cool.”
Webb encourages people to research who to contact and where to go from a Civil Defence point of view.
“We want to encourage people to offer their phone numbers and email addresses so the likes of Neighbourhood Support, through CommSafe, can do mass emails because some people aren’t on social media,” Webb said.
“We’ve been trying to update our contacts, having a key contact person on each road or street.
“We pride on calling ourselves a village and being that, we want to look out for each other.”
Four Square Pirongia owner/operator Chris McDonnell said they’re happy to be a hub for their community. Photo: Jesse Wood
