NZ Defence Force Volunteer of the Year gives time freely

New Zealand Defence Force Volunteer of the Year Sergeant Maaka McKinney is employed by the NZDF for reservist training, and serves as the New Zealand Army's 3/6 RNZIR, Northland Company, weapons sergeant.

There would be little point asking Maaka McKinney about his plans for any given weekend, or any other time of the week. Whatever the answer, the reality would depend on whether any of the four pagers he carries were activated.

The former regular soldier, who has been named New Zealand Defence Force Volunteer of the Year, is on call 24/7 to Coastguard Tutukaka, the Rural Fire Service, St John and the Kaikohe Fire Brigade.

Sergeant McKinney, born and bred in Rawene, and with whanau at Ahipara, is employed full-time by Fire and Emergency New Zealand to train and develop volunteer firefighters on regional and national levels. He is also employed by the NZDF for reservist training, serving as the weapons sergeant of the Army's 3/6 RNZIR, Northland Company, after more than 20 years in the regular force.

And he is a deputy rural fire controller for the Kaikohe District Rural Fire Force, a member of the district's long-duration scrub and bushfire firefighting team, a volunteer ambulance officer with St John in the Whangarei/Tutukaka area, and an operator for Coastguard Tutukaka.

It was that strong commitment to giving his time and skills to benefit his local community that earned him the NZDF Volunteer of the Year award for 2018.

Sergeant McKinney also raises awareness and funding for NZDF personnel and first responders who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. In May last year he walked and cycled the length of New Zealand, with no support crew, living on the side of the road, to help raise awareness for mental health issues.

This year he walked from his home in Tutukaka to Auckland with his dog Blaze to compete in the Sky Tower Challenge, raising money for mental health charities along the way.

"I wanted to motivate others to not be scared or embarrassed about having any form of mental health issue, to put aside that stigma and to take that step towards healing," he said.

"And so I decided to take a journey, walking and cycling through New Zealand with the aim of encouraging first responders and NZDF personnel to seek professional help when they need it. I wanted to promote awareness and normalise the emotions that come with mental health issues — not to try and hide it, but to talk about it and share it."

Along the way he has spoken to a number of community groups, police teams, fire brigades and ambulance crews.

He also went to New York to support the New York City Memorial Stair Climb, climbing 80 floors in full bunker gear.

"While I was there I had an opportunity to talk to some of the men and women firefighters of the New York Fire Department about mental health, and listen to what a lot of them go through daily," he said.

"A lot of my close friends who I served with and who I volunteer with have in their own time come forward about their mental health issues. And together I have walked alongside them through their recovery. It's a slow process, but with professional help and peer support the pathway to recovery, healing and transformation needn't be a lonely one."

Sergeant McKinney is now setting up a foundation to help NZDF personnel, veterans and first responders with mental health disorders using service animals, such as dogs and horses, in stress management programmes.

"There are a lot of support groups and initiatives, but none that focus solely on the employees and volunteers of these organisations," he said.