Birthright Kāpiti - Volunteer Story Comp 2022

Birthright Kapiti - Birthright Op shop volunteer dream team

Tell us why the volunteer or team of volunteers inspired you to nominate them:

I’m sure it was Joyce Kilmer who said she would never see anything lovelier than a tree. Now, I’ve nothing against trees, they certainly are lovely. But I am curious - did she never look up at the night sky? On a clear night, what can be more beautiful than a bright array of stars shining down?
What makes the sky spectacular is not individual points of light, but the whole sweeping mass: constellations, planets, stars, all shining together.
Could anything make a better metaphor for our team of volunteers here at Birthright? Our galaxy of superstars, I should say.

Because the thing with stars is that their light needs particular conditions to shine. They don’t shine in the daylight. In the dark, they are dimmed by rain and clouds. But each and every one of our volunteers is a superstar, shining all the time. Rain? Pfft! Clouds? Pfft! No matter what situations they encounter in their roles, they keep shining. The success of Birthright depends so much on the constant hard work of our volunteers. In writing this piece, I want to both celebrate them for their contribution to the smooth-running of the shop, and to share their opinions about their experience of working in the Birthright team. What do they appreciate, what do they like about volunteering here.

When I asked, several themes shone out repeatedly - friendship, family, community. Kindness, safety. Joy, fun and laughter. Helping other people, and supporting a cause they believe in. These are all the qualities and attitudes, of course, that I see them bring to their roles, making Birthright the inspiring, happy and giving place it is. So I want to say thank you to all of them, for shining so bright and helping make so many people’s worlds more beautiful.

What makes the volunteer or team of volunteers special?

Trish contacted our 42 volunteers asking them to give words that described how they felt about giving their time to support Birthright. She wanted to get across that each and everyone of them are shining stars and we really can’t do what we do without each and everyone of them.