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Giving Back with Mitre 10 MEGA
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For these business owners, supporting the community who supports them is important. Not because it is good public relations, but because it is a way of saying thank you.


The owners of Mitre 10 MEGA Ashburton, Timaru and Ōamaru, Richard and Simon Lye, assist local charities either via the Lye Family Foundation or directly through their stores. As a locally owned company, they are very appreciative of the ongoing support from local communities and are well aware that their businesses wouldn’t survive without it. While they support big local events with their unmistakable Mitre 10 branding popping up all over the place, such as at the Caroline Bay Rock & Hop, North Otago Relay for Life and Christmas in the Park in Ashburton; what really sets them apart is their aid to those in need. 


Undertaken in a discreet and personal way through The Lye Family Foundation, they provide school children in need with items they require but don’t have. For example, school shoes and jackets, and they even help schools purchase bulk food to provide sustenance. This support is completed in an entirely confidential manner. The Foundation directly contacts all local schools annually to explain how to access this means of support when teachers recognise the need for it within their classes.


Looking after children in our local communities is further supported through the provision of hi-vis vests, primarily for rural primary students, making them more visible while waiting for the bus. A baby safety product gift for each child born in the local areas is donated in conjunction with Plunket, while over $10,000 in toys is donated annually at Christmas for various local charities to distribute. 


The latest community project ‘Gardening in Schools’ has been trialled in the Mid Canterbury area and sees their expert gardener visit classrooms at local primary schools to educate children on how to grow their own veges at home, or how they can help with the school vege garden. Everything from plants to potting mix is provided. After receiving fantastic feedback from parents, teachers and of course the children, this is a programme that will be rolled out across Timaru and Ōamaru primary schools as well in Spring 2021. 

As an essential service in Lockdown 2020, Mitre 10 MEGA Ashburton, Timaru and Ōamaru were proud to be able to help customers out even though the retail stores were closed, supporting and supplying essential service providers as needed.


The Mitre 10 MEGA community barbecue will be a familiar sight for many shoppers and is there to help community groups help themselves. Local fundraising groups have access to the barbecue and space outside of the store to sell sausages in bread to raise funds; every group that uses it is gifted 50 sausages to give them a head start. There is also a MEGA marquee to lend out to community groups, for school fairs, sporting events and more, at no cost to the group using it. 


As Mitre 10 MEGA Ashburton, Timaru and Ōamaru are all locally owned, there is a real sense of pride when it comes to supporting and helping the local communities and is something that will continue long into the future.


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