Since 2005, the idea of raising money through retail sales to support victims of those disasters is a strategy that we understand. Two successful examples that come to mind were the sales of ReNew Orleans t-shirts that raised money for the Musicians Union after Hurricane Katrina, and believe it or not, another was when employees of the Whole Foods stores in Georgia voted to use sales of king cakes to support my organization’s White Boot Brigade project after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The White Boot Brigade are a series of roaming shrimpers events to direct market wild caught seafood far and wide. That money allowed us to bring a group of shrimpers to California ( at a time when our residents had no way to buy seafood) where they made many sales to restaurants and stores, some of whom are still customers of those shrimpers.
As someone who has met some of the New Zealand market folks while attending the Australian market conference a few years back, I know how much they all appreciate being connected to the larger market world. So, I attach the link for the relief work that you can support (by buying wine!) and also one that goes directly to support the market organization in New Zealand. Sometimes just a cheerful note from a far-off place makes a great difference I can tell you….