Community help

[jazfender]

Since everyone in this section of the site has all the answers to the problems in our communities and societies, I'm wondering if any of you participate in any kind of volunteer, charitable or community building/assisting organizations.

If you do, what do you do, how long have you been doing it etc?

[SMOKEU]

I've done the odd community patrol with a bunch of other people. We just walk around in high crime areas looking for anti social behaviour.

[unstuck]

Used to run a youth group/ drop in center on friday nights for the local yoofs. Was involved with AA(not the car one) for quite a few years.Sort of doing a bit of big buddy type work at the moment too.

[Winston001]

I've just retired as Chair of Habitat For Humanity Invercargill after 8 years on the board. I work as a volunteer in our second hand shop which relies upon donations of furniture and everything including the kitchen sink.

I've been a foundation trustee for 25 year of a charitable trust to provide transport to disabled people. Plus other charities - medical, health, preservation, theatre, gymnastics etc.

[thecharmed01]

I do quite a lot.

I've been involved heavily in Plunket for about 4 years, I've been on the committee and was for a while the only PIN Group Co-Ordinator for SW until we found another couple of Mums to help out.

I am on the committee for our local Playgroup. I open up once a week and setup, clean up, prep the morning tea we provide (gold coin donation) and I do a bit of work outside session times with promoting, purchasing new toys, fundraising and generally getting the word out about what we do for parents her in this suburb. We are partly (bugger all) govt funded, more I think so we have to report to them so there are always reports to write for them, paperwork to do. But it's cool.

I've also been helping run a parenting support group for about 3 years now. We have hundreds of parents involved, majority in Wellington but we are growing and have even pushed into Australia recently. We have an online resource, but we do organised events and meetings for parents in all the major centres in NZ here. We organise the meeting and have Area Co-Ordinators in each centre to help facilitate the meetings and make sure people all get to meet and enjoy other family contacts.

Finally, I'm an Affiliated Photographer with the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation.
We are a special organisation of Volunteers who have what some consider a horrible job, and what others consider a gift.
When a baby is born with a condition not compatible with life, passes away soon after birth, or is born sleeping. They call me.
I work with SANDS and the hospital so that when a family suffers the loss of an infant, I am called to go in and photograph baby. Sometimes with the family, and sometimes without, so that the family will have a beautiful set of portraits, to remember their precious wee angel with.
It's probably the hardest work I've ever done in my life, but it's also some of the most rewarding as it's something that most people couldn't handle (we lose a lot of people after they do one session as emotionally they cannot handle it) but everyone deserves to have this opportunity.
It helps to keep baby 'real' for a lot of people. When they have no time to make memories with baby, they at least have photographs to show people.
There is a lot of work, with going to the session and photographing baby, and then it can take me a week after to process the images, retouch them and make them perfect. But it's totally worth it when you know why you are doing it.
I've met some amazingly strong parents and whanau through this and it constantly amazes me.

[Winston001]

There is a strong volunteer ethic in NZ but it is largely unseen. And it seems to be declining which is sad. There used to be many Lions clubs, Round Table, Jaycees etc but they are fading away. The only group which seems to retain its strength is Rotary which does good work.

Sports clubs are disappearing, they cannot get coaches, people want clubs but will not serve on committees, schools need active PTAs and Boards of Trustees but parents aren't interested. Fund raising is a never-ending battle.

On that topic, the same communities will send their children on school trips to Oz, Japan, Europe etc which IMHO strips funds from local efforts. Instead these kids could have their eyes opened by an organised tramp in the NZ bush.

My experience in the volunteer sector is the same faces keep appearing and eventually those people become burned out.

Operating a charity or sports club is fraught with risk and stress these days. Accounting standards, audit requirements, employment laws, health and safety requirements - all perfectly reasonable and necessary but they suck the energy out of volunteers who are often out of their depth.

[Headbanger]

I
Finally, I'm an Affiliated Photographer with the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation.
We are a special organisation of Volunteers who have what some consider a horrible job, and what others consider a gift.
When a baby is born with a condition not compatible with life, passes away soon after birth, or is born sleeping. They call me.
I work with SANDS and the hospital so that when a family suffers the loss of an infant, I am called to go in and photograph baby. Sometimes with the family, and sometimes without, so that the family will have a beautiful set of portraits, to remember their precious wee angel with.
It's probably the hardest work I've ever done in my life, but it's also some of the most rewarding as it's something that most people couldn't handle (we lose a lot of people after they do one session as emotionally they cannot handle it) but everyone deserves to have this opportunity.
It helps to keep baby 'real' for a lot of people. When they have no time to make memories with baby, they at least have photographs to show people.
There is a lot of work, with going to the session and photographing baby, and then it can take me a week after to process the images, retouch them and make them perfect. But it's totally worth it when you know why you are doing it.
I've met some amazingly strong parents and whanau through this and it constantly amazes me.

Whoa.

Respect.

[thecharmed01]

Whoa.

Respect.

Thanks! They have a super strict policy on who they will allow to be part of it, so I feel blessed on a daily basis, that I passed their criteria, that my work submissions were high enough quality, and that my submission essay was accepted.
Thankfully it's not work that comes every day, but when it does come, all my clients have to wait as this comes first.

[unstuck]

Whoa.

Respect.

I reckon.

[Winston001]

Whoa.

Respect.

Absolutely. Bling sent.

[hellokitty]

Whoa.

Respect.

I reckon.

Absolutely. Bling sent.

Hell yes! It is a wonderful thing that you do

[mashman]

I haven't done much at all. I used to help my ex on the Drumchapel Youth Bus every now and then, and before I had the girls I was part of a humanitarian group that were in Kosovo, helping build prefab houses (handing out teddies and wellies to kids... never again, I'd rather build the prefabs) for people living in horrendous conditions.

[Big Dave]

I've done plenty, how about you Jazz?

[Virago]

I did my time on the kindy and school committees. Spend six years on our local school board of trustees. Served on the local community hall committee.

Lots of informal community-minded stuff, like taking my kids to the local parks or beaches - armed with rubbish bags to do a good clean-up.

Like others, I've done little in recent years. Running a business seems to take up too much time and energy. Having said that, until quite recently I poured thousands of hours into helping to run this little "community".

As far as committee-type work is concerned, I have huge respect for people like thecharmed01, who have the energy and the staying power to keep up the momentum. Those who give so willingly of their time and resources are often the target of derision and contempt from the arse-sitters. It can be eat away at your resolve, and it takes a special type of person to keep up the positivity.

[yungatart]

I've done playcentre, kindy and school committees, sports coach and manager, youth band musical director, assisted with youth groups. Currently I volunteer as a marshal for motorcycle road racing events and am a volly with St John Ambulance.