Te Hua o te Mahi Tahi – Collective Impact | Takoha – Give, Whakatipu – Grow, Tūhono - Connect
Now, more than ever, we need to celebrate the tens of thousands of students and youth who connect, give and grow through
volunteering, Mahi Aroha and social action. Their contribution has an enormous impact on communities and causes.
Today marks the start of Te Wiki Tūao Tauira ā-Motu Student Volunteer Week 2020, which runs from 30 March till 5 April.
It is fair to say that the celebration of this looks a lot different to what we had planned.
However, celebrating SVW2020 is an opportunity to acknowledge the impact that students and youth volunteers have made
through volunteering today, and over the past year. Volunteering is a pathway to leadership, skills development,
channeling passion and connecting with people and causes. Through volunteering, we all can give, grow and connect.
Wellington School Student, Sorcha Carr recently noted that without her experiences as a volunteer she would not have “a
relationship with the earth” and that “I would not be the activist that I am today without it. I spent hours working in
my community, in the bush and with my friends making memories and learning skills and lessons that I have taken into my
activism and will continue to take with me as I enter adulthood.”
“The impact of COVID-19 has under-scored two key facts about volunteering in Aotearoa New Zealand. First, we have a
demographics challenge. It also underlines the value and absolute necessity of core infrastructure that mobilises
volunteers.” Michelle Kitney, Chief Executive, Volunteering New Zealand.
Student volunteers have had a central role in the Covid-response. Organisations such as the Student Volunteer Army, have
rapidly pivoted to support essential volunteer response services in communities across New Zealand. The group's founder,
Sam Johnson, said their volunteers would support essential services nationally with a focus on childcare relief for
healthcare workers.
Join us this SVW2020 to e-celebrate the thousands of student volunteers around Aotearoa New Zealand who have given, grown and connected through their volunteering, Mahi Aroha and social actions within communities and for causes. They are part of the
pipeline of volunteers that we will draw on through recovery and into the future.
Aroha ki te tangata, tiaki i te whenua, manaaki i ngā kaumatua – Love the people, care for the land, look after our
elders – Dame Anne Salmond.
Te Hua o te Mahi Tahi – Collective Impact | Takoha – Give, Whakatipu – Grow, Tūhono - Connect