Public vote The Mental Health Foundation as most deserving in NZ Post’s Delivering for Good community investment programme

The Mental Health Foundation has received the most public votes for this year’s NZ Post’s Delivering for Good programme – winning the charity two years’ worth of free domestic courier services.

The mental health promotion charity was announced earlier this month as one of 13 charities chosen to receive a year’s worth of NZ Post courier deliveries and yesterday was named as the winner of the People’s Choice Award.

Thanks to the thousands of people who voted the charity now gets another years’ worth of free services – which means they can keep up with increasing demand to supply vital mental health resources for free around Aotearoa New Zealand.

“We are thrilled to be the lucky recipient of the People’s Choice Award in NZ Post’s Delivering for Good programme,” The Mental Health Foundation’s chief executive Shaun Robinson says.

The foundation delivers almost one million free mental health resources around the country each year, including pamphlets and booklets about suicide prevention and mental distress, as well as tools and information that teach people how to look after their own mental wellbeing. 

“These resources are more than pieces of paper; they offer the words that can be hard to find when it comes to talking about mental distress,” he said.

“Every week we hear from youth workers, public health nurses and others about how powerful these resources are in supporting the mental health, wellbeing and recovery of people in communities all round Aotearoa New Zealand.” 

NZ Post Group Sustainability Manager Dawn Baggaley says thousands of public votes were received and congratulated The Mental Health Foundation on the win.

“We are delighted that such a deserving charity will be able to channel funds otherwise spent on couriers into expanding their valuable services for the people they support.”

Robinson said around 70 orders were processed each week, with thousands of packs sent out during flagship campaigns like last week’s Pink Shirt Day and Mental Health Awareness Week in September.  

He also acknowledged NZ Post and the 12 other charities who this year will benefit from the Delivering for Good programme.  

“It’s great to see an iconic Kiwi company stepping up with such tangible support that allows these mighty charities to focus their limited resources in areas where they can have the maximum impact and continue making Aotearoa a better place for all.”  

To date over 90,000 parcels have been sent since the programme started in 2021.