Arthritis NZ Recognises International Volunteer Day

Media Release issued by Arthritis New Zealand 3 December 2010

Arthritis New Zealand Recognises International Volunteer Day

International Volunteer Day is celebrated this Sunday 5th December. Arthritis New Zealand warmly thanked some of their 6000 national volunteers in Wellington by holding a morning tea in their office.

It was a great opportunity for staff and volunteers to mingle, and volunteer Franka, from Germany and a volunteer at Arthritis New Zealand for over a year, enjoyed the event: “This is great. I like coming here everyone is so friendly and funny.”

“I like volunteering as it gives me the opportunity to do something different other than being a mum and housework. It’s also nice to do something for the community and give back.”

Sandra Kirby, Chief Executive of Arthritis New Zealand knows just how important volunteers are to the charity: “The volunteer contribution to Arthritis New Zealand throughout the country is invaluable. Volunteers are both the heart and the spine of our organisation. The heart because the role of the volunteer remains central to the way we work and the services we offer; the spine because volunteers are the backbone of our organisation.”

“Volunteers assist us in every aspect of our mission. Many thousands of hours of work is given freely by people who contribute to our governance; fundraising; running support groups; exercise classes; helping with seminars and other courses; entering data; answering phones and a multitude of other activities. Some people can count the decades they have worked alongside us for others this has been the first year of a relationship. We know that without this time our reach would be much less. We extend our thanks and our commitment to working alongside volunteers into the future. It would have been amazing to celebrate with you all. Thank you.”

ENDS

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