Editorial: Now it's our turn to step up to donate | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

While Christchurch and surrounding districts reeled from the impact of Saturday's huge earthquake, Hawke's Bay felt their pain.

There is no region of New Zealand that has suffered the anguish of sudden, overwhelming disaster from an earthquake as keenly as Hawke's Bay.

1931 is seared on our consciousness. Communities devastated. Buildings levelled. Homes uninhabitable. 256 dead.

It is not possible to live in the Bay and not feel the impact of that quake even 80 years later.

Mercifully, no one has died as a direct result of the Christchurch quake but the community is in tatters, physically and mentally.

It will be a long and hard road back to anywhere near a normal sense of well-being for many people in the South Island.

Fittingly, the twin cities of Napier and Hastings rallied instantly, pledging $250,000 for the relief fund first thing Monday morning. In a sense, we owed them, said our mayors.

In Hawke's Bay's darkest days, other regions of New Zealand came to our assistance. Now it is our turn to step up.

There are many individuals in Hawke's Bay who will also want to donate to a relief appeal for the Christchurch quake victims.

Hawke's Bay Today opens its public appeal today, co-ordinated by our publishing group APN. We are part of communities throughout New Zealand and publish local papers in Hawke's Bay and Christchurch.

We are putting in an initial company contribution of $100,000 and offering media support through our local and national publications and our partners at The Radio Network.

If you wish to join with us and donate to the earthquake victims, see P8 for details.