Habitat for Humanity is one of four charity’s chosen by Z Ormiston Rd to win a share of $4000 in their ‘Good in the Hood’ Promotion.

Locals will determine what percentage of the funding goes to Habitat by voting with an orange token each time they shop at Z in May. Throughout New Zealand this year one million dollars will be donated by Z Energy to community groups.

“We encourage motorists to pop instore to Z Energy Ormiston, fill up, give their orange token to Habitat, and take the opportunity to visit our Restore located behind their shop. Our Ormiston Rd Restore is one of four throughout Auckland says Debbie Swanwick, Habitat Marketing and Communications Manager.

Restores located in Ormiston Rd, Pukekohe, Henderson and Panmure provide revenue for Habitat’s work supporting people in housing need.

Wayne and Melanie Kennerley, the retailers of South Auckland Z Stations, enable site leaders and staff to participate in four hours of community service a month, one option being to volunteer at any of Habitat’s Restores.

Since Habitats inception in 1994 they have built 550 homes throughout New Zealand. Habitat for Humanity is New Zealand’s only charity that works solely to help those in housing need. The charity believes that everyone deserves a decent place to live.

“We know that in areas of high home ownership there is less crime, better health outcomes for families and more stability in education and careers because families have security of tenure. Unfortunately rising house prices in Auckland especially over the past few years have made the kiwi dream of home ownership for many no longer a possibility. With more and more people unable to afford a home of their own our work recently has focused on rental properties, and we are working in conjunction with several community organisations and local government to improve Auckland’s housing stocks to make sure homes are warm and dry” says Habitat Executive Director Conrad LaPointe.

“Sadly we are seeing more and more people every day in housing need. We are extremely grateful that Z Energy recognises our charity and encourage the local community to get behind this initiative” says LaPointe.

New Zealand’s Travis Cross has emerged as the top Service Advisor for the Asia/Pacific region in the 2017 Kia Skill World Cup competition in Korea.

After winning the New Zealand leg of the competition, Travis travelled to the Korean capital, Seoul, to take on the best from the rest of the world.

Travis, a senior Service Advisor with Botany Kia, beat out contestants from nine other countries in the region. He also finished in eleventh place out of 57 in the overall competition.

“I was surprised to finish first in the region and pretty happy with the result against the rest of the world,” says Travis.

The Kia Motors Skill Cup competition encourages Service Advisors to refine their skills in conjunction with maintaining Kia’s ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction. To qualify, Service Advisors from Kia dealerships around New Zealand completed a 25-question written test, requiring comprehensive knowledge of the Kia product as well as aftersales policies and processes. Five then made the cut to compete in the national finals contest in Auckland, with Travis winning the opportunity to represent New Zealand.

The competition ramped up further at international level in Seoul, with a written test, video analysis test and a role-playing exercise among the challenges thrown at contestants.

Travis says the two day competition was intense and everyone was feeling the pressure of being in unfamiliar surroundings and having to compete against the clock. Luckily his experience at Botany Kia, where he has worked for three years, provided a good platform.

It was his first visit to Korea and while there Travis and the other contestants also visited one of the latest high-tech Kia Motors assembly plants, where more than 560,000 cars are produced every year.

“That was very impressive – we got to see Optima and Cerato being built,” he says.

Now back in his role at Botany Kia, Travis says the experience was amazing and he would love to take part again if the opportunity arose.

It is the second time in two years that a New Zealander has topped the region in a Kia Skill World Cup competition. Last year Giltrap North Shore’s Brian Cockerton took the regional honours in the Service Technician section of the contest.

Kia Motors National Service Manager, Craig Buckley, says, “Travis has done extraordinarily well to uphold Kia Motors New Zealand’s reputation at the Kia Skill World Cup.

“It’s a uncompromising test of individual knowledge and interpersonal skills of the Kia Service Advisor, and to reach the world finals, then come away as the best in the Asia/Pacific region, is a great achievement for Travis.

“Furthermore, the fact that two of our team have achieved this level of success for the second year running emphasizes the high standard of professionalism among the Kia Motors New Zealand dealerships.”