My Little Brother

My little brother, who actually is not so little anymore! lives with his family in Rotorua.

When he moved here 4 years ago he decided to join the volunteer firefighters.
He successfully went through all his training and has been an active fire fighter since then.

I sometimes just take it for granted that he does this special job on top of his normal everyday job.
I know he gets called out everynow and then. I am aware that he gets called to car crashes and fires but because I am not in the same town talking to him daily it is not part of my everyday thought process.

However when they tell you (on the news) of a large fire in Rotorua that is using all resources they have available there plus a few appliances from neighbouring towns, then you know he will probably be there.

Quick check with his wife and our mum and yes it is confirmed, my baby brother is out there in his uniform, fighting that fire in the town centre. Has been since 6 this morning.

When you then see the following picture on the news it makes you realise just what he does, as a volunteer, because he wants to....

He has a very understanding boss. If he gets 'called out' outside of work hours and he is late for work then his boss is fine, his boss would prefer he didn't answer the call during work hours and that is fair enough, as a volunteer you only attend the station during the hours that you are available.
However on a day like today, when you answer the call at 6am and you are still not at work by 10.30am then you have to have a very understanding boss who understands that once you are at a fire or crash you can't leave and that you will be there when available.

So to my little brother...I am very proud of you, I regularly forget what you go up against when you are called out, but when it is shown on the news, then it hits home just what a special job you do, because you want to, not because anyone is paying you to.

Way to go little brother.

Other times he is just down right disgusting!!

Volunteering

Have you ever volunteered? I mean actually gone out and worked with an organisation or someone? Been part of a team that runs something for others, looks after something or meets regularly to organise?
If you have .......then you are part of that wonderous group of people who happily give up a small amount of their own time to help others.

Today is International Volunteers Day

This is the day when we can celebrate and say thanks to all those wonderous people who do give up some of their own time to assist and help others, just because they want to.

We are lucky to have such super volunteers in the hospital setting. They give of their time freely each week to ensure patients and visitors do not get lost around our huge campus.

They also give of their time to assist people whilst visiting the emergency department, supporting people in their bad time and just being there to talk or bring that small cup of tea that may be so desperately needed.

I myself, have never volunteered in the hospital setting, but have spent many a year volunteering. When Ben was just 5 weeks old I join Parents Centre, an organisation that ran Antenatal classes and Parenting education classes. The organisation was run by the headoffice in Wellington, but each of the local centres were run by volunteers.

I did this for 5 years, sometimes just a small input, others times well I gave it my all. I was Chairperson of the Hamilton branch at one time, but when it took over my family life then I gave it all away.

Volunteering should be fun and enjoyable. It should be something that you want to do otherwise you don't enjoy it and you don't give and receive the necessaries out of it.

Nowadays I am on the PTA at the school, a smaller committment but still a huge giving back. We have managed to change things at school for the better but at the same time don't feel that it is taking over our family life.

I happily volunteer at Judo too, the club runs itself each week thanks to the couple that own it, but whenever they have tournament days etc then they need help. So this past weekend I just spent 5 hours ensuring the kids doing the fighting had the right coloured belt on each time. May not seem like much, but at the time it assisted in making the tournament day run smoothly as possible.

Previously I have spent the entire time working in the kitchen, cooking more toasted cheese sandwiches than I care to admit too!

I will post about this weekends tournament later this week.

So to all you wonderful people out there who give of their precious time and volunteer.

Thanks you,

Thank you so much,

Thank you for finding it in your heart to be someone prepared to give up a few hours each week, whilst also working and running a family, to do something for someone else because you can.

Parents Centre

As many of you know, I am involved with a Not for Profit Organisation in New Zealand called Parents Centre.

They are an organisation who provide Antenatal Classes and Parenting Education Classes for new Mums.

I have been involved with them since 2003, when we did our own Antenatal Classes with them.

When Ben was 5 weeks old, I joined the committee of my local centre and now 6 years later I am still involved!

I have held several positions on the committee since joining and have enjoyed them all.

When we moved to Hamilton I transferred to the local centre here, and walked straight into the President role.

After 19 months in charge I have sadly handed over the reins.

My family no longer uses anything that the centre has to offer, not that that matters, as I was not involved because of them.

I was involved for me, for something that I wanted to do, something that I could give back with.

Sadly my interests have changed slightly, I am still passionate about what Parents Centre does, but I found that as my family have grown, then I had less time for them and was not giving the same amount of time and committment that they deserved.

So last week I handed over the role of President at the Annual General Meeting.

I thought it would be a piece of cake to hand over, as I was quite happy to see it go, but, it was more emotional than I imagined. I got choked on my Annual Report and actually realised what I was saying goodbye to!

I have not walked away totally.....I am still involved with the centre but I now only look after the website, which is one area, not 6 like I was doing before.

I have made some awesome friends through volunteering and I am eternally grateful for that.

I am not going to stop volunteering, I just need to take some time with my family and the maybe find something else to move in to that fits with my growing family at the time that I need it.

Volunteering

Today is International Volunteers Day

There are literally hundreds of thousands of kind hearted folk who volunteer for all sorts of different things all over the world and today is the day to recognise what they do.

So if you volunteer for anything, well done and thank you.

You are very kind to think of others and give of your time.

Volunteering

All of my family (mum, dad and brother) have always been people to join in. Must be a trait for our family.

My dad, when life and work will allow, is a member of Rotary. In the past I remember him being in Wapakoneta Lions, Ohio and also Wapakoneta Optomists, Ohio.
Currently in Dubai he is part of the Hash House Harriers, in fact he holds the top position in the section he is part of!

My mum, is the same, I remember her being part of the Kuwait Players (Amateur Dramatics) A leader in my Brownie pack and any other thing that needed help with.
She played Lawn Bowls at one stage and was on their committee.
Lately she has been in Inner Wheel which is part of Rotary and she has also held high positions, President etc

Myself, I have also joined in with things as my time has come to that stage in life.
I have held committee positions on professional organisations when I was working fulltime.
I have been involved with Parents Centre Inc NZ for the past 5 years, volunteering, and I am currently President of the Hamilton Branch

And now I have noticed that my brother has joined in the family trend. He has taken part in work activities, mountain biking, relay walking etc, he has just become a Volunteer Firefighter where he lives, and he also coaches Soccer for his sons team.

Seems my family are joiners and helpers.