When the news broke of a devastating 7.8 earthquake affecting the Kaikoura and Marlborough regions, teams around the country sprang into action.

Some like Vodafone, immediately moved to restore vital communication networks for residents and visitors, and to support emergency services on the ground.

Others like the Red Cross Disaster Welfare and Support teams, were called up from around the country to head to the region.

Vodafone Network Engineer, Shaneel Kumar, worked on both sides of the disaster recovery and relief effort.

In his normal life, Shaneel works at Vodafone as part of a team managing all network outages, and getting them fixed as quickly as possible.

When the November 14th earthquake hit, Shaneel spent a week on network recovery, before getting the call-up to the head to Kaikoura as a Red Cross Disaster Welfare and Support volunteer.

“Planes and choppers were essentially in convoy. Access by air was literally the only way in and out of Kaikoura” Shaneel said.

Above the coastline, the team could see massive slips, and collapsed roads, painting a giant picture of the devastation.

A vital part of Shaneel’s work was in psycho-social support - talking to people directly affected by what happened.

“They were really emotional. Some of them had come from Christchurch to live in Kaikoura after the Christchurch earthquake.

It triggered the whole emotional cycle. These are working class Kiwis whose lives were absolutely shattered. Their homes were shaken apart, or flooded when water pipes burst – they just weren’t liveable,” Shaneel said.

For Vodafone, once the network recovery was underway, thoughts immediately turned to what could be done to support the relief effort.

Teams nationally and internationally, pulled together in record time to enable The Vodafone New Zealand Foundation to make a $150,000 donation to the Red Cross November 2016 earthquake appeal.

Vodafone also covered all costs associated with a text fundraising campaign for the Red Cross, which has raised more than $140,000. All money donated goes directly to the emergency response.

All up, the Red Cross has received more than $3 million from generous Kiwis. That’s enabled it to make grants of $1,000 for people whose homes are either red or yellow stickered.

New Zealand Red Cross Secretary General Tony Paine said, “We know more than 570 homes have been damaged. While Kiwis are a resourceful bunch who’ve been making do and helping each other, they need a bit of help themselves. This grant gives those people a small helping hand.”

Shaneel Kumar knows first-hand what the money means. “The Red Cross puts a lot of help together, from food parcels, to getting disaster teams in as quickly as possible. It means so much, they’re so grateful for the help,” he said.

The driving force behind Shaneel’s volunteering is the 19 years he spent growing up in Fiji, and seeing the toll hurricanes and flooding takes on local communities.

Three years ago he signed up to the Red Cross relief team, and has deployed twice before, including in response to Whanganui’s flooding.

His dual roles have enabled him to perform a valuable public information service out in the field. “We try to get people to focus on a normal conversation. I tell them I work for Vodafone, and some [in Kaikoura] said what’s going on with services. I could tell them how we got their communication sorted for them – I was proud of the way we got it sorted”.

He’s thrilled at the donation Vodafone made to the Red Cross, and that Kiwis have got in behind the text appeal.

“It’s a great thing from our perspective on the ground. A lot of money’s needed to help people for years to come,” Shaneel said.

Kiwis can make an instant $3 donation by simply texting RED CROSS to 3181. People can also visit www.redcross.org.nz/donate to give to the November 2016 Earthquake Appeal.

For more information on how to donate and updates on fundraising efforts, please visit: www.vodafone.co.nz/redalert