Across Foxton are volunteers from every walk of life helping the community in almost every way you can think of. In this occasional series of photo-articles, the MAVtech Museum’s photographer Jacob Brookie is using vintage cameras from the museum’s collection to show you a day in the life of our town’s volunteers.It
Since opening in January 2023, the Foxton Community Op-Shop has been raising money for the Foxton and Foxton Beach Volunteer Fire Brigades, Hato Hone St John Ambulance and Youth Sport in Foxton. In its first two months it had raised $12,000, with $80,000 raised within its first year. With fundraising estimated to have reached $120,000, MAVtech’s cameras photographed busy volunteers in the shop.
The Foxton Community Op-Shop was founded by Julie Petersen and Jenny Stokes. Jenny used to manage the Hato Hone St John shop in Levin so had no difficulty in setting up a store in Foxton’s Southern Cross Centre. “It was easy” she said, “I just needed to find the right volunteer for the right job”. The store has 15 volunteers, with another two starting in the new year. Not all volunteers work in the shop - with some volunteers helping prepare items for sale by cleaning and ironing. The shop is a registered charity - and Julie said that the application process took longer than opening the store!