Out in the Community

On the day of the Monday 13 June earthquakes a group of Cathedral volunteers got together at St Mark’s in Opawa Road and spent the morning cooking meals for the eastern suburb parishes, and enjoying each other’s company. It was later in the day, as I was about to set off to Parklands with a carload of cottage pies ready to be frozen, that the quakes changed the plans for the day. The street in Parklands where I was heading was now full of liquefaction again, and I had to beg some freezer space on the south side of the city. Since then, the cooking team has been generously donated a freezer to help with the meal preparation storage.

A couple of days later at St Faith’s in New Brighton a community lunch was served to local people who are having a tough time. The food the Cathedral volunteers had prepared may have been warm and plentiful but a sense of comfort came more from the fellowship of those who shared the meal together, and the occasional wry humour about life in the east. The leftover soup was taken to students, shovelling silt in a nearby street, and served from the top of a recycling bin outside a driveway. Cathedral volunteers have been given a great opportunity to support parishes in the east and are generous with their time doing this. Those with Out in the community ... reception skills continue to give time to support clergy at St Chad’s with the numerous requests for assistance. A large number of draught stoppers have been made under the guidance of Wendy Newman and soup is regularly prepared at home by Cathedral volunteers, with an efficient delivery service for these goods set up by Alastair and Heather Buick. Supporting parishes means working in with others and regular checking that help offered is actually what is required. The Cathedral office has become a collection point for donations of woollen goods, bedding and food and this is distributed through various community agencies and parishes. A group of cooks from the Rolleston and Tai Tapu area
have offered their support for meal preparation projects and, between the Cathedral volunteers and these country cooks, meals will be prepared in July for the community lunch at St Chad’s in Linwood which attracts 60 – 90 people once a week. Donations towards these community projects are greatly appreciated and they help to keep the projects sustainable, but it is the goodwill of the Cathedral volunteers that is making the difference.

Nicky Lee, Volunteer Manager