Volunteers vital in fight against heart disease

Volunteers vital in fight against heart disease

As the country celebrates National Volunteer Week, the Heart Foundation is offering its heartfelt thanks to the thousands of volunteers who give their time to support the fight against heart disease.

Heart Healthcare Manager Kim Arcus says National Volunteer Week, which started today, is a perfect time for the charity to acknowledge its army of hard-working supporters.

“Heart disease is still New Zealand’s single biggest killer, claiming at least one life every 90 minutes. As a charity, we rely heavily on our amazing volunteers to tackle that sobering statistic and deliver our health messages throughout the country,” Kim says.

“Many of our volunteers have personal experience of heart disease; they’ve either had it themselves or lost loved ones to it. Volunteering can be both tremendously rewarding and healing for them.”

Kim says Heart Foundation volunteers undertake a wide range of roles, such as helping at community events, collecting during the annual appeal, and providing governance and administration support.

“We also train volunteers to present heart health talks at businesses and organisations around the country.”

Last year, nearly 5,000 Kiwis generously volunteered for the Heart Foundation, contributing 16,690 hours of unpaid work collectively.

“That’s a massive amount of time and we take this opportunity during National Volunteer Week to thank them for their enormous contribution,” Kim says.

“Without the generosity and goodwill of our volunteers, we simply couldn’t continue our vital work to improve New Zealanders’ heart health.”

The Heart Foundation is calling on existing volunteers, and anyone who would like to volunteer for the first time, to join the fight against heart disease today.

To register your interest, visit http://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/volunteer , or contact your regional branch.

ENDS

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