News
Good Neighbour Board of Trustees -
Jason Rowling, Liam Dickson, Andrew McKean, Ra Winiata, Campbell Hill
Lorraine Miller, Michelle Malcolm, Rebecca Savage
Winter Wellness
It’s that time of year when we are lighting our fires, and crossing all our fingers and toes hoping that we avoid all the nasty bugs that are circulating around at the moment.
We hope you have managed to avoid most things going around. If you find yourself unable to get groceries or cook yourself meals, please reach out to our Care Team on gncare@goodneighbour.co.nz they will be able to help you in your time of need.
We have had an extremely busy first half of the year with lots of new volunteer opportunities, events and workshops. It's wonderful to be able to collaborate with such a kind hearted team of people and continue to make a positive difference to peoples lives in our community.
This month we celebrated “National Volunteer Week.” We are very thankful for all the ways our volunteers give back to our community. Our records show an amazing 17,321 volunteer hours in the last 12 months. That's in increase of 1,000 hours from the previous year which is just great to see. Thanks to Nudo Herbs for all the beautiful plants we were able to bless our volunteers with during the weeks celebrations.
Good Neighbour BOT
Kia ora tatou te whānau o Good Neighbour!
Ko Mauao te maunga. Ko Kopurererua te awa. Ko Ngāti Ranginui te iwi. Ko Rā Winiata tōku ingoa. Tēnā koutou katoa.
Hi everyone - my name is Ra Winiata and I'm a trustee of Good Neighbour. The mountain that I relate to is Mauao. My river is Kopurererua. My tribe is Ngāti Ranginui. Greetings to you all.
Here is a quick catchup of what is happening at Board level
1. Te Huarahi ki Mua
Many of our clients are Māori so having an understanding of tikanga and te reo Māori is helpful. This is also a requirement with our MSD contract. We are looking at some simple initiatives to help in this area including simple te reo sessions and visits to sites of key significance in Tauranga to understand the history here.
2. New trustees
At the end of 2021 we publically advertised for two more trustees and we now have two amazing people who have come on board making a very strong volunteer BOT for Good Neighbour. Welcome to the GN family AJ and Rebecca.
Overall Good Neighbour is in a strong position with excellent support from our indispensible team of volunteers and staff capably led by Simone our amazing General Manager.
Ngā mihi nui.
Andrew McKean Founder & Managing Director of Synergy Technologies, a local IT Service & Support business with a strong focus on community support.
AJ is passionate about technology as an enabler, building strong team culture and encouraging business engagement within our community.
Drawn to Good Neighbour's practical care for those in need of a helping hand and the amazing staff & volunteers who facilitate it.
Aj's married to Rachel with 3 young children and enjoys travel, spending time outdoors, quality time with family & friends. Happiest when cooking in the kitchen or behind a BBQ!
Rebecca Savage, Partner at Mackenzie Elvin Law, a local Tauranga law firm. Rebecca specialises in the areas of relationship property, estate litigation and capacity issues.
Married to Jared and has two children, Harry and Lucy. Loves the work of Good Neighbour and being able to contribute to such an exceptional organisation.
In her spare time Rebecca enjoys being active with her young children, cooking and working on their rural section.
URBAN MAHI TEAM
Projects have now completed our firewood referrals for the year!
We collected processed and delivered 520 Cube of Firewood this season out to families in need. This was a huge effort from our volunteers, businesses, clubs and teams who gave up their time to make sure we helped as many families as we could.
180 families received firewood this season. We thank you all very much for the role you played in keeping families warm this winter. It’s heart warming to hear kids say “Mum we are going to be warm this winter” as they skip down the driveway after you have delivered firewood to their home.
We know that warmer and drier homes help families stay in better health over the winter months. Thanks to all the sponsors that make this service possible for our community providing equipment, fuel, logs and transport.
Kitchen
Our programme currently has 17 students coming along each week. The programme includes learning how to cook and prepare food for flatting in the morning and in the afternoon they head out to learn some life skills. Check out the talents below:
On Wednesday afternoons and Fridays the volunteers are making meals for the "Winter Wellness Team." During May the kitchen made 2,158 kg worth of ready to eat meals. Thats a great effort by our chefs and volunteers. The meals range from stews, soups, curry's, pasta bakes and relishes and of course they do all the wonderful catering for our events and volunteer functions. It's a real blessing to have this team at Good Neighbour.
GARDENS
Our Gardens team have been very busy, they have had a workshop on soil biology and propagation, micro greens. They also went on a trip to the Hamilton Gardens and held a plant sale last week raising $200 which will buy next seasons seeds needed to grow food for the community.
We were also able to support 3 schools with seedlings for their school gardens. The propagating team play an integral part of the growing team and the time invested more than pays for all the wonderful seedlings we get to help the growing sector.
Next week we have a team coming from Welcome Bay Community Centre to learn how to do back yard gardening. It's great to be able to collaborate with people wanting to grow their knowledge and improve their wellbeing.
Pop on down anytime to see the gardens or join our team on Wednesday mornings for gardening, kai and connection.
FOOD RESCUE
Working with volunteers, clients, and the community gives me a sense of purpose, knowing that what I do makes a difference; it is extremely rewarding.
My partner and I relocated from Hamilton in April 2020, we live in Bethlehem, and have recently adopted a rescue puppy named Peanut. I look forward to meeting everyone in due course.
We are looking forward to welcoming Lucy Willard our new Food Rescue Manager on the 4th July.
We are pleased to announce this years numbers for food rescued and overall we have seen an increase in the volume of food going out to charities and organisations.
- Total food distributed 610 298 kg’s
- Total food rescued locally 466,874 kg’s
- Total food rescued via NZFN 106,909 kg’s
- MSD purchased food distributed 35,326 kg’s
- Fruit picking team contributed 25,600kg
Community Impact - of this food equals 1,743,708 meals
Global Impact - savings of 1,691 metric tons of C02eq emitted from landfill. That’s equivalent to 403 passenger vehicles driven for one year on our roads.
CARE JUNCTION
Te Whare Manaaki
There a few exciting developments happening in the Care team with Rachel now joining the team as a Community Connector and Volunteer Coordinator for Good Neighbour. Congratulations Rachel! We have also been hosting regular get to know Good Neighbour Tours for new volunteers which has seen a huge increase in our volunteer pool with an average of five new volunteers each week through the organisation.
Last week we had the team from Accessible Properties come in so they could find out about all the ways GN helps the community, and talk about some of the problems facing tenants at the moment and look at how we can work collaboratively to enhance the lives of people who need our combined help.
Isolation is something we see alot of people facing, so together we can encourage people to get out, come and volunteer and be a part of something positive. Volunteering comes with so many good things.
It's a no fail environment, if you don't show up you don't have an employer growling you about where you are, you have a team leader asking if your ok and is there anything you need.
We keep our volunteering slots at 3 hours which is a nice amount of time to commit, short and sweet. You can volunteer as little or as often as you like. It's totally addictive to be part of a team where you are a part of something bigger than yourself.
Thai Carving Class at the Care junction
Volunteering Opportunities
- Food Rescue - Truck Drivers Monday Shift
- Projects - Project Volunteers Back yard tidy ups, Tuesdays - 1-4pm, Thursdays 9.30am -12.00.
- Get to know Good Neighbour Tour- 13th July 12.30pm
Email: office@goodneighbour.co.nz or call 07 394 4249 for more information
Jane Kerr "volunteer of the month" Jane volunteers her time in Food Rescue and Kitchen, she always goes above and beyond in her service to the community, thanks Jane !
Job Positions Available
Office Administrator
- We are seeking an administration super hero to keep our front office running smoothly. This is a reception based role and is the first connection people often have with Good Neighbour.
To apply click on the link : https://dogoodjobs.co.nz/jobs/office-administrator-27/
For more information please call Simone: 027 253 6676
or email simone@goodneighbour.co.nz
Wish List
- Firewood Shelter
- 20ft Container for Firewood Shelter
- Building Materials for Tunnel Houses
- Picnic Table for Propagating team
For more information please call Simone: 027 253 6676 or email simone@goodneighbour.co.nz
To make a donation
For Good Neighbour to continue to support the community, we need your continued support. You can donate a couple of ways.
- Website - www.goodneighbour.co.nz – donate
- Deposit into our account. (see details below)
Bank A/c details: Good Neighbour Aotearoa Trust
Bank A/c: 02 0466 0313842 00
Reference: Your Name
Particulars: Donation
Good Neighbour is a registered charity CC49198, so if you would like to get your donation receipt please email office: office@goodneighbour.co.nz with your contact details.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING US MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
MEDIA & COMMUNICATION
Our Good Neighbour story is on our website and our facebook is updated regularly. Please find and click on the appropriate link logo below.
We also have a Facebook Community Noticeboard that people can contribute information on - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1626342071018835/
Any media and communication enquires, please contact Angela Rogers.
Email: angela@goodneighbour.co.nz
