Vicki Parry with Ada, her diabetic response dog trained by Flip Calkoen through the Kotuku Foundation. Photo / Greg Bowker
Vicki Parry with Ada, her diabetic response dog trained by Flip Calkoen through the Kotuku Foundation. Photo / Greg Bowker
Fortuitous meeting led diabetic to response dog and on to fundraising for training other helpful canines.
Vicki Parry Fundraiser of the Year
When Ada notices a chemical change in Vicki Parry's blood, she reminds her to do something about it. A forceful nudge to the leg usually suffices, or occasionally finding Mrs Parry's medicine and bringing it to her.
Ada can sense something is wrong before Mrs Parry can herself, which is pretty impressive for a husky. Ada is a diabetic response dog, trained through the Kotuku Foundation Assistance Animals Aotearoa, where Mrs Parry also volunteers.
She joined Kotuku Foundation two years ago to train Ada, and continues to offer hours of support through fundraising, publicity, participating in events such as the Round the Bays run, and connecting support through organisations such as the Auckland branch of Diabetes NZ.
Her unwavering support of the foundation has earned Mrs Parry a nomination for a Pride of New Zealand Award, in the Fundraiser of the Year category.
"She has been an incredible one-woman fundraiser of extraordinary tenacity and ingenuity, particularly given the challenges she copes with on a daily basis," her nominator said.
A fortuitous meeting between Mrs Parry, her husband and dog obedience trainer Flip Calkoen led Mrs Parry to the foundation.
They had taken puppy Ada to his obedience training, where Mr Calkoen happened to be talking to the group about training type 1 diabetic response dogs.
"So I went up to him afterwards and said it was really interesting because I am type 1 diabetic myself," Mrs Parry said.
Ada displayed the right temperament and work ethic for training, so Mrs Parry signed her up.
After anywhere between 6-24 months of training, the dogs are able to smell a particular chemical change in the blood which indicates a change in blood sugar. They are then trained to indicate the change to their owner through nudging the leg. The dogs will persistently nudge if they are ignored.
"Ultimately, she's improved my health over all," Mrs Parry said.
Through sensing the change 45 minutes before the diabetic can, the diabetic is able to keep their blood sugar within a tight threshold.
"It means now I no longer have low blood sugar overnight, where there's a risk that I won't wake up, or extreme blood sugars which made me very unwell and where I could end up in hospital."
Mrs Parry works fulltime in a demanding communications job while juggling her voluntary role.
But she says it is rewarding and she loves it.
The primary challenge for Mrs Parry and the foundation is gaining recognition and donations, being such a small charity.
Fifty people are diagnosed with diabetes each day and this can create stress on health providers, but, Mrs Parry said, the foundation believes they could save the health system roughly $13 million annually through response dogs.
Maori Warden just loves helping people
Maori Warden Thomas Henry has been an avid volunteer for his community for more than 30 years.
Photo / Jason Oxenham
Thomas Henry Community Spirit
Maori Warden Thomas Henry is often thanked when he picks up a child off the street and drops them home, occasionally he isn't.
Some parents tell him he should have gone straight to the police station, but Mr Henry wants to do everything he can to prevent that.
"We want to keep them safe," he said. "We have a great response from [the children]. They respect us. If you have respect for them, they'll have respect for you."
Mr Henry, a Mangere Maori Warden volunteer for 18 years, organises neighbourhood street festivals and was instrumental in establishing the Mangere Otahuhu Netball Centre.
He was nominated for a Pride of New Zealand Award in the Community Spirit category for his dedication to his community.
"He deserves this award because he is always putting the community first," his nominator said. "For over 30 years of his life, he has volunteered in all different agencies ... community safety is paramount, and his love for South Auckland."
Mr Henry discovered Maori Wardens while organising a major national netball tournament. After panicking about how to manage 60 buses of players, a friend suggested he call the Maori Wardens. Mr Henry hadn't heard of them but was impressed by their ability to command and co-ordinate so many people.
"They did an amazing job. If it was us, we would have been confused and had a big traffic jam in Mangere somewhere!" he said.
He also noted the Maori Wardens' love and passion for their community, particularly for their rangitahi, youth. Young people selling methamphetamine is a major issue for his community, he said.
"If I can get two or three kids off P, if I can get them off the streets, I've done my job."
Mr Henry also spent two months in Christchurch after the earthquake, distributing food and encouraging the often reluctant matua, elders, to seek support or treatment for their injuries.
His neighbourhood street parties are an annual event in Otahuhu.
Many are too shy to attend meetings about what is happening in their community, Mr Henry said. "They couldn't come to the town hall, so we brought it to the streets."
The street parties include local boards, budgeting services, neighbourhood watch groups, and activities such as jumping castles for children.
Meanwhile, Mr Henry played a significant role in setting up the netball centre as another community venture to keep children off streets.
It started as a few teams setting up make-shift courts at the Foodtown carpark, and after "meetings and meetings and meetings" with council, is now a well established centre with more than 100 teams. "I just love it - it's about helping people," Mr Henry said.
Sheila Gasparich had been retired for a week when she wandered down to the Hibiscus Coast Community House, looking for something to do.
There, she was met by a man reading a book at a desk, and "not doing very much at all", she said.
She decided to change that.
Before long she had set up groups and turned the Community House into a thriving meeting place.
That was in the 1960s. Mrs Gasparich remains friends with many of those she first met at the house, and she can tack on a few more worthy causes to her name.
For 20 years, Mrs Gasparich helped co-ordinate the annual Daffodil Day event for the Hibiscus Coast region.
She is a founding member of Age Concern Rodney, a vestry member of 25 years in Silverdale's Holy Trinity Church, and volunteer at the St Chad's Op-shop.
Before her retirement from teaching, she left her legacy in varying towns through establishing Girl Guides and Brownies groups.
For her continuing support and dedication to her community, Mrs Gasparich has been nominated for a Pride of New Zealand Award, in the Lifetime Achievement category.
"Her enthusiasm, commitment, and achievement in furthering the wellbeing of fellow residents on the Hibiscus Coast, particularly the disadvantaged, is beyond measure," her nominator said.
Mrs Gasparich, who was taken aback by the nomination, said the driving force behind her volunteer involvement is to create a sense of community.
Mrs Gasparich was instrumental in negotiations with the council in keeping the original 125-year-old Holy Trinity Church in the Silverdale area.
The church had moved in order for road development to go ahead so she made sure it just moved up the hill.
She then instigated a sprinkler-system in the church and was the vision behind building the Holy Trinity cottage.
"Without her tireless work and dedication this historic church would have fallen into disrepair and disuse," her nominator said.
Mrs Gasparich suffered an ankle injury six years ago which has slowed her down a bit, but credits her energetic nature to her mother.
The Pride of New Zealand Awards are proudly brought to you by The New Zealand Herald, The Hits and TSB Bank. Nominations for the 2015 awards have now closed. To see more stories of our wonderful nominees click here. For more information on the awards go to the official website.
