From Nigel Wilson – Greater Wellington Regional Councillor, Kāpiti.
I would like to send a personal vote of thanks to all the Volunteers who add such enormous value to our communities.
At our recent Long Term Plan hearings we had over 150 submissions from Kāpiti and many of those came from volunteer groups and individuals. The Greater Wellington Councillors were also fortunate to receive many presentations from Kāpiti groups and were left hugely impressed by the work carried out for the benefit of the entire region.
The Friends of the Ōtaki River and the Friends of the Waikanae River both made impressive presentations. As has been pointed out many times the money put into volunteer groups is repaid many times over in the value they provide to the community. Anyone lucky enough to hear Jan Nisbet’s presentation on the Yankee Trail will know how valuable that voluntary enthusiasm can be.
I was fortunate to assist with the Rotary Club of Kāpiti annual foodbank appeal recently and was very pleased to see how generous the Kāpiti public were in giving both cash and groceries that have stocked up the foodbank. We must also be grateful for the huge hours organiser David Edwards and his team put into the appeal as well as the actual running of the foodbank.
Every week we see groups out to volunteer their time for the common good. Another recent example was the celebration at Queen Elizabeth Park of the 70th Reunion of the US Marines. The Marines Trust volunteers have done a huge amount of work on this and Kāpiti was seen in a very positive light on national TV news coverage of the event.
On the same day we had hundreds of kids from Paekākāariki, Raumati South, and Te Ra schools turning out to plant trees at the QE Park. Again they had great support from mums and dads and teachers who made the occasion special for everyone.
