Central Otago mayor Tamah Alley is giving up her Saturday lunchtime to sell sausages outside Alexandra New World, alongside a nationwide mayoral challenge for the Child Cancer Foundation.

Having been invited to participate in the inaugural Miracle Makers: Mayoral Challenge for Childhood Cancer by former Queenstown mayor and Child Cancer Foundation patron Jim Boult, the self-described “super competitive” Mayor Alley said she was keen to beat Auckland’s

Wayne Brown in the event.

Vincent Community Board chair Jayden Cromb will be by her side from 11-12:30pm and the supermarket has donated the snarlers and bread to give them a boost in the competition.

As well as donating in person on Saturday, people can also go online to Mayors across Aotearoa step up for Kiwi kids with cancer - Child Cancer Foundation - up until the end of March.

The winning mayor and council will be announced at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Child Cancer Foundation collectors will be out all day today and tomorrow (March 14 and 15) with their buckets, so there is plenty of opportunity to donate to the worthy cause.

As a mother of three, Mayor Alley said for a parent to find out their young person had cancer “must be the worst thing they could hear,” and it was important that the Child Cancer Foundation was there to help navigate that path with them.

“It must be very lonely and incredibly frightening.”

Jim Boult personally put the challenge out to his mayoral colleagues nationwide and so far, 18 mayors and counting from Whangārei to Invercargill have answered the call to be involved with the challenge - with more signing up every day. 

“This challenge started from my time as mayor, standing outside a supermarket with a collection bucket. It was a small effort, but people gave generously because they knew it was for a cause that truly matters. Now, I’m thrilled to see 

mayors across the country taking up the challenge to help Kiwi kids with cancer,’’ Jim said.

“I’ve been involved with Child Cancer Foundation for decades, but one conversation will stay with me forever—a 10-year-old girl, terminally ill, told my wife Karen she wasn’t afraid of dying, just of being forgotten. That’s why I do this. 

“That’s why I asked these mayors to step up. So these brave children, and their families, know they are never alone.”

Mayor Alley said there were a lot of worthy causes in Central Otago and people were very generous, but this is a great thing to be part of.”

How you can get involved

It’s easy to support your mayor in their fundraising efforts:

✅ Donate in person at their collection site

✅ Give online at childcancer.org.nz/donate and select your mayor as your reason for donating

✅ Text your mayor’s full name to 3457 to donate $3 instantly—anytime, as often as you like

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