Are you are a volunteering super hero?

National Volunteer Week is on! There is a place for you to volunteer, he wahi mohou hei tuao.

Alot of what is done in our community relies on volunteers to make it happen.  These heroes of Kaiwaka are the ones who work tirelessly for others and are often forgotten.

Unfortunately there are not as many people volunteering as there are jobs to be done.  What you do to help others could be something little or something big.

As it's National Volunteer Week look out for opportunities to assist others.  These are just some ideas on things you might want to do.  Can you think of others?

• Your neighbour is sick with a cold so you could offer to pickup supplies from Jaques so they don't have to go out.  
• A friend needs help keeping up with their gardens so you could volunteer to mow their lawns. 
• Know a new parent, offer to go over and do dishes or fold laundry (trust me that can be an amazing help in those first weeks of getting to know your newborn.
• Hold open the door for another person.
• See someone struggling to carry their parcels up the hill and you know they live near you, offer them a lift home.

We have many volunteer heroes in our community.  Some are obvious, ie Fire Service and St John Ambulance staff.  Others less so, ie the people working in the Op Shop, our librarians, our sports coaches, and the team who put together the Bugle are great examples.

So open your eyes to the volunteers around you, and if you are able to help ... do!

Volunteering has a massive impact on Kaiwaka, do you have a volunteer story to share? 

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We are in need of more ambulance staff for our St John station.  Are you willing to help?  Follow this link to find out more.

Always wanted to ride on a Fire Engine and fight fires and help others?  Our volunteer Fire Service is always on the lookout for more to join their team.  Follow this link to find out more.

Pay It Forward

The concept of pay it forward has been around for awhile now.  Whether you know it from the book and/or movie or from an act of kindness from another the act of paying it forward has many benefits for both the person giving and receiving.

Doing one good deed for another might not seem like much.  However to the person at the receiving end it can mean the world.

As a bonus when you perform these random acts of kindness it makes you feel better about yourself and can have a positive effect on your immune system. The act of giving and receiving contributes to improving the self worth and self esteem of yourself and those around you.  It can also prevent people from feeling alone or isolated, as well as getting us out of our comfort zones.

Also studies have shown that the positive energy you receive from giving to others helps to relieve stress, which to be honest we all need in this day and age.

Paying it forward doesn't have to be something big, in fact the small things can often mean the most to others.  Examples could be:

• catch someone doing something right, if you get great service at a shop or cafe then say so 
• buy some Instant Kiwi tickets and and put them in your neighbour's letterbox or leave on a co-workers desk
• pay for the person in front of or behind you's food in the queue - even the act of paying for someone's milk can make a huge difference
• hold the door open for others
• if it's raining offer to share your umbrella with someone
• be a mentor for someone who needs your support
• clean out a cupboard and donate anything that you haven't needed or used for a year to someone else or the op shop
• pick flowers from your garden and drop them to a sick neighbour to brighten their day
• where a sign around your neck offering free hugs
• when doing baking drop some off to your neighbours 
• offer excess fruit or vegetables from your garden on facebook for someone else in the community to have

Really the options are as endless as your imagination.

So give back to those around you by paying it forward.  And you will be amazed how good karma means that good things make their way back to you too.