Good in the Hood: engaging with our communities

To Z Energy retailer Leatuao Larry Tupa’i-Lavea, his service stations are community hubs, and Good in the Hood allows him to give back in a meaningful way.

Our communities have changed a lot over the last few decades. Where once the local post office, corner store and bank were places we visited regularly, now we send emails instead of letters, shop for groceries at the supermarket, and do our banking online. Life admin is quicker and simpler these days, but we’re also missing chances to connect with others in the community as part of our day-to-day lives.

Enter the humble service station, where we go to fuel up our vehicles and grab a coffee or pie for the road – often multiple times a week. These places play a unique role in our communities, says South Auckland Z Energy (Z) retailer Leatuao Larry Tupa’i-Lavea. 

“I’m Pasifika, so I think of a Z station like a fale, a meeting house, and everyone around it is part of its village,” Leatuao says. “The question is, how do we engage with our communities so that they continue to offer services to our children, to our elderly, to the diversity of people within that community, their village?”

For Z, that question is key to its mission. Community is one of its four stands – and supporting the places where Z service stations operate has been a priority since the very early days of the company. 

It’s also a question answered in part by Good in the Hood, Z’s flagship community programme. The campaign distributes one million dollars every year – so far, over $10 million in total – to charities and community groups across Aotearoa New Zealand. While each retailer picks their own shortlist, it’s the customers who vote on how they want the $4,000 in Good in the Hood funding to be split between the four selected groups. Each retailer is also given around $1,000 fund to support community groups throughout the year.

“Everyone in the Z family loves Good in the Hood, but it’s the retailers that bring this thing to life,” says Leatuao. Because the programme is specifically designed to support groups operating in the local community, it makes sense that it is the local retailers who are the driving force behind the programme.

The chance to give away $5,000 to worthy causes is a highlight of every retailer’s year, but at Leatuao’s eight service stations, they really go all in. For them, Good in the Hood isn’t simply a month-long programme once a year – it’s the start of a relationship that carries on for the rest of the year and beyond.

“We invite them into stores to put up a stand and talk about the group. We do things like dollar coffees, and we donate some extra money from our own funds,” says Leatuao. “A lot of it is just volunteering our staff to plant trees, drive around and deliver meals, clean places, or just stand and hand out flyers.” 

He employs a community relationship manager to organise all of this, and to find other opportunities for his retailers to engage with their own communities throughout the year.

Just before Good in the Hood kicks off each year, Leatuao’s service stations host meet and greet events for the chosen groups. It’s a chance for them to learn about the others in their cohort, and to start thinking about ways they can link up and support each other. After voting closes and the cheques are presented, there’s often excited discussions between the groups about the new resources shared and relationships forged. 

“It’s really turned out exactly the way I envisioned for how we’d bring these groups together,” says Leatuao, who makes a point of never missing a Good in the Hood event.

While Good in the Hood grew out of work Z did supporting Christchurch after the 2011 earthquakes, it launched as a nationwide initiative in 2013 – and Leatuao has been involved right from the beginning. Ask him about some of the charities he’s helped support through Good in the Hood, and he’s quick to start reeling off names: The Volunteer Fire Brigade, who are first on the scene at many fires around rural Auckland; Radio Lollipop, a live entertainment service for sick children in hospital; and the Auckland Bird Society, a tiny organisation dedicated to nursing sick birds back to health. “My mother was a paraplegic, so I always make sure that we're supporting people with physical disabilities too. Hospice, end of life care, is another organisation that we regularly fund.

“I have all the respect for our big charitable trusts,” he adds. “But they have some great marketing, and they get lots of funding. Good in the Hood focuses on the smaller groups within the community. They’re hardly ever recognised, but they do some really fantastic work. So those are the sorts of groups that I try and encourage to register.”

It’s not all about the money, either – the ripple effects of Good in the Hood are profound. “It’s all about building community and helping raise the profile of the groups involved,” says Leatuao. “It’s a very holistic way that I look at it, as a business owner connecting with the community through this wonderful programme created by Z.”

Good in the Hood is also an easy way for customers to learn about the groups doing great work in their local area. Whether they’re on the frontlines in the fight against poverty, or quietly supporting underserved communities and at-risk habitats, these groups deserve both recognition and support.

“Māori groups, Pasifika groups, our various Asian groups – we really encourage them all to apply for Good in the Hood, because they’re all offering a particular service to the diversity of peoples,” says Leatuao. “That’s what Good in the Hood is about. It’s not just for a select group or a select community. It’s about asking who’s in this particular community, and how do we try to help them?”