Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Red Cross offers new quake grants

Updated at 10:16 am on 4 February 2012

The Red Cross is offering two new grants to people still being affected by the Christchurch earthquakes.

The first grant is $500 towards storage costs for people who lived in the red zone or have more than $100,000 damage to their home.

Sir John Hansen, chair of the Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Commission, says some homeowners have been paying for storage since the September 2010 quake and hopes the grant will ease that financial burden.

Sir John says it costs a significant sum of money even to hire a container and Red Cross was getting up to eight calls a day about this particular issue.

The second grant is $100 a month for elderly and medically vulnerable people, or families with children aged under 18 who are worried about affording power bills this winter.

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