3000 Guide Dog Volunteers Wanted

From: The Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind

The Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind is urgently short of volunteer collectors for their annual Guide Dog Appeal.

The Appeal, which runs on Friday 27 April and Saturday 28 April, is having difficulty recruiting volunteers through their normal channels.

"Normally, four weeks out from the appeal we would have around 4800 volunteers national-wide committed to collecting for us," says National Funding Development Manager, Jeanette Mason. "Currently, we only have about 1600.

"Auckland is especially short with 77 volunteers committing their time so far - 933 short of our volunteer collector target of 1000."

Around the country numbers are also quite low in many other regions:
* Waikato/Bay of Plenty needs 1100 volunteers and currently has 740
* Hawke's Bay needs 250 volunteers and currently has 50
* Wellington Region needs 1000 volunteers and currently has 500
* Nelson/Marlborough needs 300 volunteers and currently has 50
* Canterbury/West Coast needs 580 volunteers and currently has 210
* And Otago/Southland needs 580 volunteers and currently has 60

Volunteers will be collecting donations in shopping malls, on street corners and around main shopping centres across New Zealand.

Ms Manson says the Foundation is appealing to anyone who has two or three free hours on the 27 or 28 to contact their local fundraising manager on the tollfree 0800 DOG DAY line (0800 364 329).

The Guide Dog Appeal is raising money for guide dogs and other valuable services for blind and sight-impaired New Zealanders.

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