For a long time, all Sarah Page of the Kindness Collective and her husband wanted was a baby. But when she finally got pregnant, she hated the experience.

The difficulties continued when their son Max was born in 2012. Page, trying to juggle a career, had a severe case of post-natal depression.

But the final hammer blow in a “period of real challenges” was still to come.

“I discovered that Max wasn’t developing in the same way as the other kids in the coffee group,” Page told Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan on Sunday night.

“I did the old Dr Google and a whole lot of hits were coming up for autism.”

At 18 months, Page and her husband took Max to a paediatrician, who confirmed Max was autistic and told them he may never speak.

“It was a feeling of devastation,” Page said.

“We had the worst vision of what life was going to be like ahead of us. It was really hard. But I threw myself into learning as much as I could about autism and how to make his life great.”

After embedding herself in autism community groups, Page was struck by how many families were struggling, and how little support there was for them unless they had money.

“I was devastated by that – and once you see it you can’t unsee it. So I started trying to find a way to give back myself,” Page said.

“I took all the cans out of my cupboard and made all my family and friends do the same. I found my local Woman’s Refuge, I delivered all this food, and I was met with huge gratitude and kindness and a hug.

“And I walked away with a feeling of light and what I now know to be joy that stayed with me for a few days. And so I kept doing it, and donating more and more and more.”

This initiative became the Kindness Collective, and in the 10 years since launching, it’s grown to encompass 12 staff, work with 110 community partners nationwide, and boast a network of 45,000 donors, volunteers and followers.

Page’s core goal is to make New Zealand a kinder place, through reducing inequities and supporting families in need.

The Kindness Collective does this by supplying essentials like food, clothing, toiletries and items of warmth; and what they call ‘moments of joy’, like toys, books and experiences for children they would otherwise go without.

Page says as she’started to give back to her community more and more, her depression receded.

“At the time I wasn’t aware of it, but every day [my depression] was lifting,” she told Cowan.

“I know now that it’s physically impossible for your brain to be focused on stress and sadness if you’re focused on gratitude… I know now that giving and focusing on other people is a great healer.

“I work hard every day to give other children the life that my child has – that is my everything now. That is my joy and my drive and I do it as much as I can.”

-Matt Burrows