Garin College student Reagan Hannah wanted the community to celebrate the Pasifika culture and she not only managed to organise an event for 250 people, but fed them for free as well.
Little wonder she has earned the nickname CEO, with a Pasifika Celebration Night held in the school’s gymnasium on Friday, that included performances from five schools as well as bands, dancing and dinner that was paid from her efforts to secure grants and sponsorship.
The 17-year-old from Totara Flat on the West Coast says she just wanted to bring the Pasifika community together and showcase it to others in the community.
“When I started I wanted to have a polyfest, and went to Garin and they said ‘this is a very big idea, so you probably want to bring it down a bit’.”
It became a night of celebration using the school gym that became a Pacific island setting and the number of people wanting to be there just kept climbing.
“It was an opportunity to bring everyone together and have an idea of what a Pasifika celebration is all about. I knew it was going to be big, because families are large!”
She also wanted it to be inclusive, so entry was a gold coin donation and she covered costs with grants.
“I didn’t know how to do grants. But I applied for a lot of grants and the only fundraising was a little sausage sizzle.”
Dinner for 250 was cooked by the small team at Seini’s Kitchen who donated their time and spent a couple of days preparing a Pasifika feast for the event. While Moena, a Tahitian dancer based in the North Island, flew to Nelson to perform on the night.
“I didn’t know people were around to help out and when you start asking, they all want to help,” Reagan says. “There’s a saying, the more you give, the more you receive.”
Garin College teacher Jen Dalton provided support for Reagan to organise the celebration night, but says the Year 13 student has done the hard work.
“We call Reagan CEO because she’s such an inspiring young woman who literally has the world at her feet. She will probably go into event management.”
To organise the event, Reagan talked with Pasifika leaders in the region and that prompted her to create the Nelson-Tasman Pasifika Youth, while the Pasifika celebration was created for the wider community, Reagan is leaving her stamp on school uniform as well, with a lavalava she designed soon to be available.
This is her last year at Garin and living in the Top of the South, but her challenge to the Pasifika community is a Top of the South polyfest that showcases the culture on a larger scale.
