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With an eye for details from cake decorating, growing vegetables, seeing something that needs doing or someone who needs a hand, Ali Miller is a great person to be the Volunteering Mid & South Canterbury and the Hotel Ashburton Volunteer of the Month.
Never one to seek praise or want to be acknowledged Ali quietly goes around doing wonderful acts of volunteering in our community.
As one of eight children growing up Ali’s parents knew how important it was to grow a vegetable garden to provide for the family. Back in his early years the seeds were sown for Ali’s love of gardening.
Today, in Mid Canterbury many people benefit from Ali’s green fingers. Each year he grows, at his own expense, kilos of Yams. After picking them by hand and washing them he gives them to a different school each year to use as a fundraiser. The school then uses the gift to set about organising a fundraiser with the produce from Ali’s garden.
Even Covid 19 did not stop Ali in his tracks this year, with the help of a neighbour he picked the Yams and then he sold them and gave the money to a school. There are no strings attached, the school can use the money however they choose. He simply does it because he loves helping people out. Only one of the schools he has helped had a family connection with Ali.
Neighbours, community organisations like Birthright Canterbury families, those attending Age Concern, clients of St Vincent De Paul and Community House are also the lucky recipients of the produce from Ali’s garden.
Ali goes around the community helping those in need. One person he helped was a result of reading their story in the paper and thinking outside the square, Ali thought I could do something to help that person. His reward for providing fresh homegrown produce is seeing people happy.
It’s not only growing vegetables that Ali does for others, he is known to secretly go around doing things like , seeing a community garden that needed bark and so he organised for them to get it and he laid it or a the need for a concrete pad in front of a” Little Library” and then replacing it when it go broken.
Ali says he is inspired to do his good deeds in memory of his sister and by those who work in the social service sector. He is a regular volunteer at Community House Mid Canterbury, and he says he gets inspiration from the people working in there. Community House says Ali improves the environment by the things he does for them, “Ali improves the outside of Community House by making it look fresher and the inside by helping make it a friendly place” says one of his nominators.
Ali likes to brighten people’s day and see them smile and that is why he sometimes will deliver to a local business a bunch of flowers out of his garden.
If your Mid Canterbury organisation would like to nominate a volunteer for Volunteering Mid & South Canterbury & the Hotel Ashburton Volunteer of the month contact our office coordinatormc@vmsc.org.nz or ph 3081237 ext 240
The response for bra's has been outstanding and due to its great success they are now swamped with bras. Community House would love it if someone was able to come in and pack up these bras ready to be sent off to Fiji.
Please contact Lorel Hallinan on 03 687 7589 for more informationBRAS BRAS BRAS BRAS BRAS BRAS KNICKERS BRAS BRAS UNDIES
Now that we've got your attention, please note that Community House Timaru is acting as a collection point for all good quality used bras (and any underwear that is unused in excellent condition). These will be passed onto Project Uplift for delivery to women in the Islands. Last time we did this we got around 6,000 bras - let's see if we can match or better this!
Do you have green fingers – if so, we have volunteering roles in Waimate and Ashburton that you might be interested in.
Meeters and Greeters are needed for the renown Trotts Gardens in Ashburton, to assist visitors to have an enjoyable visit.
Trotts Gardens is run by a Charitable Trust. The Gardens are open from 10am-4pm seven days a week and volunteer Greeters are needed during this time. A volunteer shift is for two hours. Greeters host visitors and make their visit and enjoyable experience.
Skills needed for this role: Confidence, initiative, people skills. Cash handling experience would be an advantage.
Benefits in undertaking this volunteer role include: The opportunity to meet people, make their visitor and enjoyable experience and help promote this community asset The opportunity to meet people, make their visitor and enjoyable experience and help promote this community asset.
The Waimate Community Gardens needs volunteers to maintain the Waimate Community Garden this includes a mowing roster, planting and harvesting of food for the community.
They need a capable person to assist community garden to sew, harvest and maintain community garden providing fresh produce for the local community. Time commitment 1-2 hours per week or fortnight on a roster. Tools supplied.
The Skills required are reliability, responsibility, some gardening knowledge will be helpful,
If you are interested in one of these roles or a volunteering role go to our database - msc.volunteermatch.org.nz/ or contact our offices
Mid Canterbury – Dellwyn ph (03) 3081237 ext 240 email coordinatormc@vmsc.org.nz
South Canterbury – Lou ph (03) 687 7364 email Lou@vmsc.org.nz
Does your rural community have a project that needs support?
If so, head over to www.rabobank.co.nz/good-deeds to enter their Good Deeds Competition and your project could be awarded $5k and a day’s labour from the teams at Rabobank NZ and The Country.
For the fourth year in a row, Rabobank have teamed up with The Country for the Good Deeds Competition.
#RaboGoodDeeds
Maori Language week /Te Wilki o Te Reo Māori.
As it is Maori Language week /Te Wilki o Te Reo Māori, let's try to use some Te Reo Māori in our conversations this week.
Here are some words in Te Reo Māori that you might already be familiar with:
Aotearoa (New Zealand, long white cloud)
haka (generic term for Māori dance. )
hangi (traditional feast prepared in earth oven)
hapu (clan, sub-tribe; to be born )
hīkoi (walk)
hui (gathering, meeting)
iwi (tribe)
kai (food)
kiwi (native flightless bird)
koha (gift, present (usually money, can be food or precious items, given by guest to hosts) )
manuhiri (guests, visitors)
Māori (indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand, the language of the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand)
marae (the area for formal discourse in front of a meeting house, or applied to a whole marae complex)
Pākehā (New Zealander of non-Māori descent, usually European)
tamariki (children)
tangi (funeral)
taonga (treasured possessions or cultural items, anything precious)
tapu (sacred, not to be touched, to be avoided because sacred, taboo)
te reo Māori (the Māori Language)
wai (water)
waiata (song or chant)
waka (canoe, canoe group)
whakapapa (genealogy, to recite genealogy )
whānau (extended family)
whenua (land, homeland)
Our Services
We work with volunteers and with community organisations.
For Volunteers
Volunteering is any activity that involves giving your unpaid time, energy and skills for the greater good.
Volunteers create positive changes in many areas.
Human rights, faith communities, health, education, sports and recreation, social services, arts and culture, emergency services, the environment and conservation, animal welfare, and community support development – and that’s just the beginning.
For Community Organisations
Volunteering Mid & South Canterbury offers support in all things volunteering.
We are here to support volunteers and voluntary organisations. We provide training, information, advocacy, recruitment, placement, recognition and promotion of volunteering.
Community Accounts Service
Bookkeeping assistance for not-for-profit groups.
Groups who are FINANCIAL MEMBERS of Volunteering Mid & South Canterbury, can benefit from FREE ADVICE, and SUPPORT with all matters FINANCIAL / ADMINISTRATION.
We also provide a FULL BOOKKEEPING SERVICE to members.