Volunteer your votes

NEWS RELEASE

May 10, 2009

Volunteer your votes

Join the quest for New Zealand’s top volunteer

New Zealanders are being asked to vote for hard-working volunteers who donate their time to charity, for the inaugural Intrepid Travel National Volunteer Awards.

Charities have nominated their top volunteers and the New Zealand public is now being encouraged to visit www.gomad.co.nz and vote before May 18 for their favourite volunteer in one of the following categories: 

Emergency services and international aid
Family and social services
Environment, conservation and animal welfare
Health and disability services
Sport and arts
 
Five category winners and New Zealand’s overall Volunteer of the Year will be announced at an event in Auckland on June 11. The Hon. Tariana Turia, Minister Voluntary and Community Sector, will select the overall winner.

The awards are being held in the lead up to Volunteer Awareness Week (June 14-20) which aims to highlight volunteering and the wide range of volunteering roles available within the community.

Good magazine Social Marketing Manager Gavin Healy, who developed the volunteer recognition programme, says the awards come at a time when thanking the country’s volunteers is more important than ever.

He says volunteers are critical to society during recession

“We urgently need to promote the importance of the volunteer and non-profit sector during the downturn, as funding is in decline while demand for social services is increasing.”

The awards have been created to celebrate heroes in our community and highlight the importance of the volunteer sector which, representing 4.9 per cent of GDP, is also an active contributor to the economy.

“Volunteers typically shun praise for their efforts,” says Good magazine Publisher Martin Bell, “but we want to celebrate our volunteers because they tirelessly support causes in their community and receive no material reward for their effort.”

The winner will receive a volunteering holiday from adventure travel company Intrepid Travel, valued at $5000. Good magazine will donate 20 per cent of its subscription revenue from the June/July period to the charity of the winning volunteer.

An estimated one million (or one in four) New Zealanders volunteer their time to help the more than 100,000 charitable causes in this country each year.

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