Rural people living with intellectual disabilities and their families will receive a welcome boost of support this week as PGG Wrightson gears up to celebrate the 41^st anniversary of the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme.

Pink Week, which runs from June 2 – June 9, aims to raise awareness of the rural donation scheme. The scheme sees NZ farmers pledge the sale price of calves, lambs or virtual livestock to the cause, and once donated, they can see the impact of their donation put to good use in their local area.

A range of extra fundraising initiatives are planned for the week including the Take a Dive for IHC event featuring PGG Wrightson's General Manager – People & Safety, Rachel Shearer. Rachel, who fondly remembers her family’s involvement with the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme during the 1980s and ‘90s, will jump from 12,000 feet over Wanaka on Saturday 3 June as part of a sponsored dive. 

People can show their support by donating to the scheme via the Givealittle page.

PGG Wrightson will further support IHC by donating $1 from each PEL Pigtail Standard 760mm purchased in-store or online during the week. 

Plus, stores, sites and offices will be fitted out with pink décor with staff donning pink outfits to create buzz and inspire conversations around the scheme.

Since launching in 1982, the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme has raised over $40 million for IHC. This goes towards supporting 1000 volunteers who provide advocacy and other support to families in need, running community awareness programmes, enhancing the living environments of IHC’s 850 homes and other facilities across the country and maintaining NZ’s most comprehensive library of information relating to intellectual disabilities. 

“We’re proud and humble of our long association with this fantastic cause,” says Peter Newbold, PGG Wrightson’s general manager of livestock and real estate.

“From its origins, the scheme has always been about rural people doing their practical best to support a community need. 

“PGG Wrightson has been there since the beginning, helping people by making the most of the many connections our brand has to the rural sector throughout the country.”

To learn more, or to pledge livestock as part of the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme, see here.