Dunstan High School students were out in the community last week baking Christmas cakes, washing cars, gardening, and sharing stories with the elderly.

A joint initiative with Volunteer South, a total of 250 year nine and 10 students took part in the day, helping out 31 different community groups.

Community connector Central Otago Southland Sue O’Brien said the idea for the student volunteer initiative originated from a Teachers’ Only Day and now it has become an annual event on the calendar.

“It was a good opportunity for the young people to see what there is out there and what impact they can make.”

Teacher Keri Barnett was keen to build a culture of volunteering amongst the students and wanted to explore the idea of enabling students to volunteer during their teacher only days - encouraging students to connect to their community and give back through sharing their time, energy and skills. 

Since then the idea has been introduced at Wakatipu High School and for the last three years Volunteer South has organised two Teacher Only Day events each year. 

It’s one of the biggest events on the calendar for Volunteer South, and there is a lot of organisation that goes into making the day a success.

“Having a wide range of activities means that we can offer the students something that appeals to them, and their different skills and passions,” Sue said.

Some of the students went to Castlewood Care Home and asked the residents about their lives - encouraging them to share stories.

“It’s that intergenerational connection with the community. It was wonderful to see them finding similarities and learning about how things have changed.”

Keep Alexandra Clyde Beautiful members had some help spreading schist mulch around the plants at the Alexandra garden opposite the monument.

For one elderly resident, it was the first time they had chatted with a young person since moving to Alexandra, “and you could see they both really enjoyed it,” Sue said.

Some of the volunteering roles have become a regular occurrence in the community, including one student who plays the piano at Ranui once a week.

Keep Alexandra Clyde Beautiful members had some help spreading schist mulch around the plants at the Alexandra garden opposite the monument. Photo supplied

The volunteer day last Thursday also co-incides with International Volunteer Day on December 5.

Sue said this year’s theme, ‘Every Contribution Matters’, reminds us that volunteering takes many forms and that even small contributions can make a big difference. 

“Volunteers are the backbone of our region — they’re our sports coaches and managers, our conservation and beautification volunteers, our ‘big buddies’, our Light up Winter and Blossom Festival volunteers, our rest home visitors, our volunteer drivers, and so much more. 

“Collectively, volunteers in Aotearoa contribute an estimated 231 million hours each year, worth $6.4 billion. Volunteer South thanks every volunteer across Central Otago for their time, energy, and commitment.”