Our people got among their community to support Auckland’s City Mission supporting those in need.
The New Zealand Shop Openings team spent a morning supporting Auckland’s City Mission which supports thousands of Aucklanders in crisis every year. As one of Auckland’s most influential social service providers, they provide food parcels to families in need, offer homeless services, addiction support, assist isolated elderly people and facilitate better health care for those in need.
"We were introduced to two lovely ladies, Trish and Jackie, who have run the City Mission distribution centre for over 20 years."
Gabrielle Bevin Smith, National Retail Design Manager, New Zealand
“The distribution centre is the hub for the distribution of goods. Volunteers often pack emergency food parcels or sort donated clothing and household items.
“We spent four hours sorting through and checking over 60 large rubbish bags of donated clothing to then distribute to any of their three New Beginnings stores – which go a long way to supporting people in need.
“It was amazing to see the amount of work that the Mission does, and just how much there is still to be done. The commitment that Trish and Jackie have to their community is awesome. Despite working in a cold warehouse every day they are both truly happy in their work and can see that their contributions, alongside volunteers like us, make a difference to those who really need it.”
"When I go home each day I know I've done something truly meaningful with my time."
Trish – Auckland City Mission
Gabriell continues: “I understand how they feel as it was pretty cool to serve our community and belong to a portion of what will make life a bit easier for someone else in the near future. It was also awesome to share this experience with the team as something that we all felt connected with beyond work and our own lives.
“And with less than 10% of the Mission’s funding coming from government they rely heavily on volunteers, so I think we’ll be back to help sort through more of the bags soon – we made a very small dent in four hours!”