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Honouring Volunteers
By Bryan Wilshire
Earlier this month Lifeline Auckland was invited to attend a function on board the P&O cruise liner Pacific Sun as guests of P&O Cruises and The New Zealand Herald. A range of caring organisations were invited as an initiative to recognise Unsung Heroes for their contributions to the Non for Profit caring sector.
Both The New Zealand Herald and P&O Cruises officials, including the Captain, spoke of their desire to reward volunteers by gifting a number of Pacific Cruise holidays on an annual basis. The Herald Deputy Editor spoke of the wealth of human interest stories generated by last year’s recipients and stressed that contrary to popular belief, the paper was anxious to report good news stories with as much vigour as straight news stories. Ann Sherry, previously CEO of Westpac Banking Group in New Zealand and now with P&O, spoke of the touching stories of nominees from last year’s group and the tough decisions required to whittle the recipient numbers down to manageable levels |
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On board we were treated like royalty. And judging by the standard of presentation of the meal we enjoyed and the attentive service, it would be difficult not to be very impressed by the cruise experience. You can do as little or as much as you like to relax, really relax and enjoy yourself or the company of others. The function ended with a tour of the liner and left a very strong impression of true leisure.
Naturally P&O Cruises would like more people to become fee paying travellers on a regular basis and I guess we were all part of the marketing package of a well presented leisure industry leader. For us at Lifeline, finding ways to reward and express our thanks and gratitude to our volunteers is a never ending challenge and we see this initiative as a further vehicle to present our thanks.
To nominate someone send in 300 words on why you think he or she is an Unsung Community Hero. You can enter by emailing unsungheroes@nzherald.co.nz or posting entries to Unsung Community Heroes , New Zealand Herald Editorial, PO Box 3290 Auckland City. All entries need to be in by 31 March 2009. For a copy of the full terms and conditions visit www.nzherald.co.nz/go/unsungheroes or www.pocruises.co.nz/unsungheroes .
Meanwhile, in between arranging cover of your shifts at Lifeline, by all means book a cruise on P&O Cruises and enjoy yourself!
The life blood of Lifeline Auckland, now in its 44th year of service, always has been the pool of dedicated volunteers willing to give their time and talent for the benefit of others without any expectation of reward. We need that dedicated group of people to undertake service that cannot be bought, as do all voluntary agencies. We therefore commend P&O Cruises and The New Zealand Herald for their initiative that helps recognise our unsung heroes and we trust that 2009 will see volunteers from Lifeline enjoy a free Pacific Cruise.
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