Grab & Go Bags gained a high profile this month with 50 new emergency grab bags given to older members of the community as a collective initiative of South Wairarapa, Carterton and Masterton district councils and organisations that work with older people.

“We want to empower and prepare older members of our community from South Wairarapa through to Masterton with Grab & Go bags for emergency situations,” says Lisa Matthews, Wairarapa Regional Positive Ageing Strategy Coordinator for the three councils. 

The new bags are filled with first aid kits, hand sanitiser, masks, torches and radios, which can collectively be expensive to purchase but are essential in emergency events. 

“We know of barriers that prevent some older members of our community from being ready and resilient for a major event. With an increase in the cost of living, we see more people struggling to buy necessities, let alone extras for emergency situations,” says Matthews.

This was the driver for Featherston Community Centre and Hato Hone St John to partner with the three councils, Carterton Neighbourhood Support and Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO).  

The new bags were given to 50 older people who were identified by community champions as meeting the criteria to receive a bag. Recipients had to be 65+ years of age and have limited means or family support to create emergency preparedness provisions. 

The bags were put together with incredible generosity from the Wairarapa Area Committee for Hato Hone St Johns, which donated first aid kits; WREMO which sourced second hand Grab and Go bags; South Wairarapa Rotary for funding torches; Carterton Neighbourhood Support (Carterton District Council) for donating notebooks and pens and Life Pharmacy and Unichem Southend in Masterton for gifting 50 hand sanitisers.  

“This is a pilot project and we will assess whether there is capacity to assemble a further 50 Grab & Go Bags this year to keep building resilience into our older population.”