Many people think about volunteering for a good cause, but various questions hold them back: Will it be very time-consuming? Am I fit enough? Will I get emotional satisfaction from the work? What organisation should I volunteer for? If you are struggling to make up your mind, here is some food for thought.
There are many fantastic organisations in our community worth your energy and time. To help you choose an organisation and make up your mind to sign up as a volunteer, ask someone who has first-hand experience. Dairy Flat resident Bill Grieve for example volunteers for food rescue charity KiwiHarvest.
KiwiHarvest’s mission is to rescue good surplus food from going to landfill and distribute it back to our most vulnerable communities. Operating in five locations across New Zealand, KiwiHarvest rescues more than 80,000 kilograms of precious food each month. This would not be possible without the incredible work of an army of volunteers.
On the North Shore alone, KiwiHarvest is co-ordinated by Janice Blomgren who is supported by at least 15 volunteers on a weekly basis. Bill Grieve, who has been a member of Takapuna North Rotary Club for almost 20 years, came on board more than two years ago when KiwiHarvest set up its North Shore hub.
“I needed to find another major interest as I like having lots on my plate and I was at risk from getting bored," says Bill, who is in his late 70s. “Volunteering to get the North Shore launched on a sound and sustainable basis was a natural flow on.”
Bill volunteers for a half day every fortnight. He goes out on the road with another volunteer to collect precious food from food retailers and growers and then delivers the food to various recipient agencies that provide wraparound support to people in need.
In the beginning it was hard “experiencing face to face the deprivation and need on the North Shore”, Bill says. But the positive impact of his work became evident when he first visited a school and saw “the delight and smiles from the children receiving fruit and bread rolls for the first time”.
Working for a food rescue charity can be challenging at times when one has to cope with an unexpected food delivery or gets stuck in the inevitable traffic jam while recipients are waiting for much-needed food. But for Bill these are no reasons to stop volunteering. On the contrary, he recommends it and says what he enjoys the most is the comradeship with other volunteers, the gratitude from recipients and the goodwill of the suppliers.
“Just do it,” he says. “It’s great fun!”
If you are interested in volunteering with KiwiHarvest please email volunteer@kiwiharvest.org.nz or phone 0800 601 609. For more information visit www.kiwiharvest.org.nz
