Kāwhia entrepreneur donates laptop to every Waikato elementary school student

When Kāwhia’s local business owner Sid Patel asked to speak at the local elementary school’s end-of-year awards ceremony, no one knew what to expect.

They definitely weren’t expecting to be surprised by 56 laptops, one for each student at the school.

“I had no idea what their plan was,” said Kāwhia primary school principal Leanne Apiti. Stuff.

Patel walked to the front of the room and then handed each child a named grocery bag. Inside were items like coffee and cookies.

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She then told the students that they had to give their bag to someone in the audience, a friend, a teacher, or a family member.

“I thought that was it,” Apiti says.

“I thought he must want to teach children to give. Then a man came into the hall with all the laptops. ”

For Patel, the expressions on the children’s faces said it all.

“I really felt like Santa,” says Patel.

“Their faces lit up like little diamonds, very bright.”

Patel said he gave them the laptops as a way to invest in each child’s future.

Patel, himself, struggles with severe dyslexia every day. He does not know to read nor to write.

That is why he knows from experience that new technologies are an important means of overcoming adversity.

“I was the last in my class, always. I thought I was the biggest loser. I don’t want any of the kids to feel that way.

“Everyone has skills. They just need help to develop them. All I needed was a teacher to encourage me. So I want to cheer them on. “

Growing up in Fiji, Patel’s mother always taught her to put the needs of others first. When Patel moved to Te Kuiti in 1992, he remembered that lesson.

The dining room at the city’s Te Tokanganui-a-Noho marae is still heated by the heat pumps he donated.

And Patel’s first store in Te Kuiti is still known in the community as “Sid’s Store.”

Since then, Patel’s business interests and the scope of his generosity have grown.

He is now the proud owner of a motel in Kāwhia, and KBeez superettes in Huntly and Putāruru. Patel also bought the Huntly Deka poster in 1996.

“Children ask me if I am rich. I tell them that being rich is not about money. It’s about being happy and making other people happy. “

This is not the first time that Patel has played Santa Sid for the children of Kawhia Primary. He has been putting the award in awards ceremony since 2013.

Christmas gifts for the Kāwhia Primary community include a fleet of brand new bikes, Samsung 8 smartphones for school dropouts, and $ 30,000 worth of desktop computers for the library.

In addition, Patel donates office supplies to the school at the beginning of each year.

“This is my backyard, my community. I want to take care of it.

“I feel like all the children in Kawhia are my grandchildren.

“You could get me a motorcycle. Maybe this year I will. But if I buy myself something, I just make myself happy.

“If I buy laptops for children, I make a hundred people happy.”

Apiti said Patel always goes “hitting for the underdog.”

“And he has the biggest heart.”

Outside of Kawhia, Patel generously contributes food, office supplies and other gifts to the children of Huntly and Putāruru.

The locals know they can trust Patel’s KBeez superettas to provide school children with free bread and fruit year-round.

But as his reputation as a king of kindness grows, Patel says he doesn’t like the attention.

“People tell me that I may not have enough savings for my retirement.

But I will have the memories. I will have my community. That is more important.

“A hug is worth a million dollars.”

* Maryana García is a Wintec journalism student.