For two years, The Co-operative Bank has been giving all of its staff the gift of giving at Christmas. Each year instead of a traditional Christmas gift, all staff members have received a Good Gift Card from The Good Registry — which they can use to make donations to their favourite causes.
We asked a few of The Co-operative Bank’s staff members to tell us about their experience with The Good Registry and what it felt like to be gifted the power to do good.
Ruth Lio
When Ruth Lio received her Good Gift Card for Christmas, she was grateful to donate towards organisations that have helped her and her family through illnesses.
Ruth decided to split her donation between six of The Good Registry’s charity partners — Wellington Children’s Hospital, Asthma New Zealand, Plunket, CureKids, KidsCan, and Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Aotearoa.
“My family and I have been fortunate enough to benefit from services that some of these charities provide. The work that these charities do has had a direct and positive impact on our lives which I am very grateful for,” Ruth says.
Ruth thought the Good Gift card was a wonderful Christmas present from The Co-operative Bank, as she was given a chance to give back.
“At first I thought it was odd, that I was gifted something I had no choice but to regift. But the feeling one gets from being able to give, no matter the size, is so awesome.”
Ruth says that seeing the list of 65 charities she could donate towards reminded her of her own experience with some of the organisations.
“It struck a real chord in that, I started to remember how much my family and I benefited from these charities. Being able to give back makes me so grateful not only to the charities, but also to The Co-operative Bank for letting me know that I could do this.”
Ruth says she is inspired to spread the word and to gift some Good Gift Cards herself, so that others can experience the same feeling she did when she redeemed her card.
The experience has inspired Ruth to continue giving.
“I have since started donating on a regular basis to various other charities. I have also started regular donations to several scholarship funds and hope to one day be able to solely fund a scholarship for postgraduate research.”
Caroline Vasquez
When Caroline Vasquez received her Good Gift Card from she was amazed by the variety of charities she could support through The Good Registry, and chose to donate to causes close to her heart.
Caroline donated to Alzheimers NZ, Chained Dog Rehabilitation and Rehoming, and SPCA.
“This is a great initiative,” Caroline says. “The ability to pick from so many charities is amazing.”
Caroline chose to donate to Alzheimers NZ because she feels it’s something that a growing number of kiwis are affected by. And as an animal lover and long-time volunteer for SPCA, it made sense to Caroline to split her donation to also support two awesome animal welfare charities.
“I’ve volunteered for SPCA for many years. I chose Chained Dog Rehabilitation and Rehoming as they are a relatively new organisation that would really benefit from fund-raising.”
Yash Appilla
Yash is a huge supporter of animal rights and welfare, along with environmental sustainability. So when he received his Good Gift Card, he chose to split it between SPCA and Sustainable Coastlines.
With our 65 partner charities, Yash said it was such a nice feeling that there was a wide variety of good causes he could choose from, and causes that were not only close to his heart, but aligned with his values.
“These charities offered me an avenue to contribute to my values in some way.”
“It’s such a great concept and I love the fact that The Co-operative Bank gave me an opportunity to experience what you do at The Good Registry. It felt good!”
Yash said it was a brilliant gesture by the bank, and proves why the little things matter, and how good giving feels.
If you're interested in giving the gift of giving too, you can do that with The Good Registry's Good Gift Cards here.
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