ten: lending a helping hand to a hospice

Who are you and what do you do in your day-to-day job?

Sara Dover, Larry Keane, and Bruce Lim and we're part of the amazing Hamilton branch.

How did you use your 'Here for Good' day?

We helped out at Hospice Waikato.

Why did you choose them?

Hospice Waikato provides hospice services to patients with any advanced, progressive and life-limiting disease that requires the services of a specialist palliative care team to assist in the management of their care and to support the people who care for them. They are only partially funded by the DHB and need to fundraise $2 million each year to fund the shortfall. There isn't money available to help pay to upkeep the gardens and grounds or wash the cars their nurses use to visit patients in the community and that's where volunteers can help. We chose them as we all know someone who has either suffered from a terminal illness or has had a family member or friend suffer a terminal illness and we wanted to be able to give something back to such a worthy organisation.

What did you do?

We had to wash all the cars used by the nurses to visit patients (17 cars in total we washed). We also cleared the leaves from around the gardens, swept pathways and generally gave the outside area and garden a spruce up.

What did you enjoy most?

We really felt we were making a difference to them and everyone was so appreciative of just the little things such as having a clean car. It put into perspective how fragile life can be and made us appreciate the people we have in ours more.

What did you learn from the experience?

We learned we'd hate to wash cars for a living as it was really hard work, especially in the heat. We also learned how lucky we are to not have to need a service offered by the hospice.

How can I help?

They are always looking for volunteers for a variety of things and can include administration tasks, helping in their Hospice shops or fundraising for events. Information is available on their website.