Pledge with
Marama Tuku
This page exists to create a direct way for our community to contribute towards opportunities, experiences and support systems that help children evolve, learn and succeed within their own dreams.
Every cause supported through this space is centred around children and the environments that contribute to their development. This may be helping a child attend a school camp or experience an opportunity their whānau may not otherwise be able to access. It may involve supporting further education, learning resources, personal development, extracurricular activities, or experiences that encourage a child to discover their interests and abilities.
Support may also extend beyond an individual child. We may contribute towards daycares, early childhood centres, schools, educational programmes and other organisations or initiatives that directly support the growth, learning and wellbeing of children.
The purpose is simple: to help create access.
A child's circumstances should not determine the opportunities available to them. By bringing these causes together in one place, we can collectively contribute towards experiences, education, resources and environments that give children greater opportunities to learn, participate, develop and pursue what matters to them.
Each fundraiser featured here will clearly identify who or what we are supporting, why the funds are being raised and how the contributions will be used.
This is community supporting children, their development and the systems that help them move forward.
Meet Levi, Malakai & Mum.
This pledge is for Levi, his mum Ashleigh and his brother Malakai — a family whose story goes far beyond what can be seen from the outside.
Levi was born with a serious condition that affected his body's ability to receive the oxygen it needed. From the beginning of his life, breathing difficulties, hospital stays and the constant need to monitor his wellbeing became part of everyday life for this family. For Ashleigh , becoming a mother also meant learning to live with the ongoing reality that her child could become seriously unwell.
But Levi's condition has never affected only Levi.
When one child requires significant care, the entire family adapts. Siblings adapt. Parents adapt. Routines, environments, finances and opportunities can all become centred around making sure that child is safe. Malakai has grown alongside that reality, while Ashleigh has carried the responsibility of raising both of her boys and creating as much stability as possible for them as a single mother.
Their lives have also included experiences and challenges that are rarely visible from the outside. Ashley has continued to prioritise her children through those circumstances, structuring her life around giving Levi and Malakai the safest, most stable and fulfilling environment she can provide.
One thing Ashleigh has remained particularly conscious of is allowing Levi to experience life, rather than allowing his health history to define the boundaries of his world. Protecting him matters, but so does giving him opportunities to participate, explore, build independence, create memories and experience the same excitement and possibilities available to other children.
That is why this family is part of Pledge with Marama Tuku.
This pledge is an opportunity to contribute directly towards experiences and opportunities for Levi and his family that may otherwise be difficult to access. It recognises not only Levi and what he has lived through, but Ashleighs role as his mother and Malakais experience of growing up alongside a sibling requiring additional care.
They have experienced circumstances that have required their lives to continually adapt, yet their focus remains on moving forward and creating a stable future together.
Your contribution can help turn some of that focus from simply managing what life requires into actually experiencing what life has to offer.
Every contribution goes towards giving this family greater access to the experiences, opportunities and memories that every child and family should have the chance to create.
