Urgent Couriers and Auckland City Mission

Last week I got my Christmas cracker from Urgent Couriers (*happy claps*); this cracker is for their “Santa Needs Help This Christmas!” campaign in conjunction with the Auckland City Mission. I know that Christmas is still 59 days away however you can start getting your workmates organised now.

What is it?In December the Auckland City Mission will:
• Provide emergency food to thousands of families
• Celebrate Christmas dinner with 1600 people
• Make Christmas special for thousands of children

They can’t do it without your help!Become a Santa’s Helper and encourage your workmates and customers to donate food, new presents and financial gifts for the Auckland City Mission Christmas Appeal. In turn, you can make Christmas special for thousands of Auckland families and their children.

*This is proudly supported by Urgent Couriers who will drop everything that you need for your office collection and then pick up the donations in December*
To give you an idea of things to donate, below are the products that are commonly included in their food parcels:
Canned Baked beans 440g
Canned Spaghetti 440g
Canned Sweet corn 425g
Canned Fruit (as available)
Canned meat
Peanut butter 380g
Flour 1kg
Tea bags (30 sachets)
Rice 1kg
Salt (small packet)
Biscuits
Canned fish
Milk powder 500g
Sugar 500g
Jelly packet
Pasta 500g
Soup (tin or packet)
Weetbix 375g
Toiletries bag: soap, laundry powder, razor, toilet roll
Cereal (i.e. Cornflakes)
Canned Tomatoes
Sauce Mix
Canned Beetroot
Jam
Chutney
For Presents my suggestions would be $2 Shops as they have some quite cool toys and things i.e. bucket and spade for the beach etc. Also, you cannot go past The Warehouse for some good deals.

I know that people are stretched at Christmas and it should not really be about material things; however food is a necessity and also many of these children deserve at least one present on the day. It could be as simple as everyone in your company adding an extra can of food to their weekly shop.

So send @urgentcouriers a tweet or contact them through their website and get your Christmas Cracker today and start collecting! I am sure you could get your friends together and start collecting too!

Not in Auckland; then find your local food bank and find out what they are doing.

Put a little extra “somethin’, somethin’” in your trolley

Today at lunch the girls and I were talking about charities. I explained how I thought it would be really awesome if the City Mission were to update their Twitter and Facebook pages on a weekly basis with what they urgently needed that week. I actually remembered a few weeks ago they really needed cereal. The City Mission also has a list on their website of the food products that go into a food parcel, so this is a good guide. The Kits2Kids Facebook “crew” have started doing this and I find it really helpful. It means that if I want to get them some goodies to help out then I know exactly what they need in “real time”.

Perhaps as more non-profit organisations come onto Twitter and Facebook we will see regular updates of what they need sent out to their followers and friends.

Having worked for a non-profit organisation for quite a number of years I know how hard it is to ask for and get the things that you desperately need to keep things going for just another month.

I know that at the moment times are pretty tough and people cannot always afford a monetary donation, however perhaps you can give a couple of cans of food that you can “live without”. I tend to buy bulk things for organisations all at once, which unfortunately led my husband to ask “who are you buying 6 x children’s toothbrushes and 6 x tubes of children’s toothpaste for”. Ummm I did not really have an answer to that one.

So my suggestion is how about adding an extra “somethin’, somethin’” to your trolley each week or fortnight? When you get a box worth of goodies then you can drop them off to the charity of choice. As woman I figure we have become very good about justifying our “secret” purchases over the years…we are stealth-like in fact i.e. “oh honey, this old thing? I have had it for ever”.

At the moment I am busy thinking about how I can help charities without having to put in a lot of hours or time. So being able to donate products is an excellent way for me to help. A few years back I actually gathered a whole box full of women’s beauty products to give to the City Mission for women at Christmas. Last year at Christmas I know that CJLambert actually ordered groceries online through Foodtown and had these delivered directly to the City Mission. I know many website developers and photographers help out non-profits doing work for them to help raise their profile.

This year I think I will do a huge collection of food items for the City Mission and deliver them in early December to help with the Christmas rush.

Note: there are many other charities out there that need assistance and it is about finding the one that you really want to help out. Check out Givealittle on Twitter to.

Please feel free to share your ideas for helping where you can.

Volunteering

On the 1st January 2007 I read an article in the paper about a guy named Chris Flack who the year before decided to try 100 new things. He made this decision at the pub with his mates!

I decided that it was an amazing idea and alongside my family and friends (probably with a slight post New Year glow), to write a list of things to do during 2007. Mine was a bit different to Chris’s list and I included medium-term goals and also one off things. I also emailed Chris to tell him what I was doing, and stunningly he replied back; I now follow is blog and also find out what he is doing via Facebook.

I embarked on my mission with confidence and enthusiasm. I got to number 8 and then things ground to a halt altogether. My 8th “thing” was to volunteer for a non-profit organisation. I came across this organisation on a NZ website and decided to approach them to see if they wanted administrative help. I didn’t hear anything for about 4-6 weeks and then out of the blue I received an email. So I started with 1 day a week checking their phone messages. I felt as though I could do more and in typical “Vanessa” style I jumped in with two feet; at the damn deep end.

I just want to make a note here. I also wanted something to occupy my time. I felt incredibly lonely at home as Mark would sleep most of the weekend away and I was often up at 7am on a Saturday and Sunday, so for hours I would be struggling to fill this time.

Over the next 2 ½ years I dedicated a lot of my time, blood, sweat and TEARS to this worthy cause. I do not want to discourage people from volunteering for non-profit organisations, but please heed these words of warning. Think very carefully about the organisation that you want to volunteer for, do not get involved in their petty/childish games, and absolutely make sure that they have processes and a business plan that they follow. Also, make sure that they have a board of trustees to keep the committee in check.

My commitment to this organisation just about broke my marriage, my wedding nearly didn’t happen and my relationships suffered with friends and family. I now absolutely detest a couple of people that are still involved. I do think about the great things that they have achieved, and are still achieving. Nevertheless, I feel a deep sense of sadness and frustration towards their pigheadedness. I am also stunned by the utter lack of regard for other people and also adults who are just wankers and completely rude and hypocritical! Also, the absolute nastiness and bitchiness was mind blowing (even from men)!

Please do not think that I am trying to be a martyr as I can take responsibility for my own actions; however a lot of bullies worked for this organisation and I do not cope well with bullies at all. I also struggle to ask for help and instead try and tackle everything without help. I know my weaknesses, and certainly know what I need to work on.

What are the good things? I met some absolutely amazing people, and one of them is someone who I want in my life forever. I love her without conviction and I am honoured to call her a friend. We got 3 beautiful cats that have helped bring joy to our household.

Things that I think they could do better: Have a business plan. Have PROCESSES and make sure that these processes are adhered to. Don’t have one process or rule for one group and another for some else. Ensure that the committee make decisions that benefit the organisation and also adopt a consultative approach. Also, the person who started the organisation needs to be removed from the committee.