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Efrain Vega de Varona and Ingrid Rivera befriended 91-year-old Nat when they volunteered to deliver groceries to her while they were stuck in Kaikōura during the national lockdown.
She taught them how to make pikelets, schooled them in the local lingo – like what stubbies and spuds are – and shared a few beers. Their story inspired a local movement to connect elderly people with helpers.
Rivera, an actress and model, and de Varona, an engineer, are no strangers to helping others when crisis strikes.
In September 2017, when Hurricane Maria tore through their homeland of Puerto Rico, they helped raise funds and deliver supplies to those in need.