Pāpāmoa College is rallying around its local volunteer fire brigade with a fundraiser.

Money raised from a car wash and sausage sizzle this Saturday from 9am to 12pm at the school will be donated to the Pāpāmoa Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Students and teachers will collect $10 donations to wash cars and charge $2 per sausage.

Teacher in charge of health Rochelle Bishop has been organising the fundraiser.

She said every student and staff member was grouped into one of four waka at Pāpāmoa College: Mataatua, Tainui, Tākitimu, and Te Arawa.

A waka holds a fundraiser every term to raise funds for a charity or good cause.

Bishop leads Mataatua, which was tasked with term two’s fundraiser.

She decided to support fellow physical education teacher and volunteer firefighter Jerome Van Wijk.

“Everything will go towards the fire brigade.”

She said the school had already raised $2500 from community donations.

Her goal was $4000 to $5000.

One of the students in Bishop’s class – Olivia Nelson, who is 16 years old – is also a volunteer firefighter at Pāpāmoa Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Bishop said Nelson learned about the brigade through Van Wijk’s role and decided to join him.

Van Wijk said he hoped the fundraiser would help students think more about volunteering.

He had been a volunteer firefighter for Pāpāmoa Volunteer Fire Brigade for 13 years.

Pāpāmoa College students Renee Thomas, Poppy Plank, and James Ferns (all 17) with firefighters from Pāpāmoa Volunteer Fire Brigade. Photo / Supplied

Van Wijk said the brigade received about 260 callouts per year and trained every Tuesday night.

He had been called out to incidents while teaching.

“I’m lucky enough to teach with people who support me to go on the callouts.”

He said incidents included car accidents, fires, and medical situations.

Previous callouts ranged from life-threatening incidents to receiving free doughnuts when the local doughnut shop set off its fire alarm.

Van Wijk said the funds would go towards an all-terrain vehicle. It had been the brigade’s goal for the past year and a half.

Other assets, such as the fire truck and building, were supplied by Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

He said an all-terrain vehicle would help the team access the sand dunes at Pāpāmoa Beach.

Van Wijk encouraged the community to “come and get your car washed”.

Last year, Van Wijk danced on the road island for donations – which Bishop was hoping she would repeat.

Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.