Pride of NZ: Helping others 'enriches' life

Kathleen Parnell helps with breakfasts at Tawhero School in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley

Mother has been volunteering since she was a child.

Kathy Parnell - Community Spirit

Whanganui's Kathy Parnell did her first volunteer stint aged 8 at a St John fair.

She kept volunteering through her teenage years and continues as a young mother - when her husband and mother can look after her children.

Now she has been nominated for a Pride of New Zealand Award in the Community Spirit category.

Mrs Parnell helps with breakfasts and lunches at Tawhero School, and assists with a free sports programme there. And she helped set up the school's community room, where programmes are run for adults.

Home is in Akatea St in one of the 600 houses between Raupo and Abbott Sts in the Stone Soup Community area, and she is one of the volunteers who hold free community days every two months and work to improve things.

She's also a volunteer with Te Ora Hou, a Christian community development organisation, and a member of the Gonville Library Knitting Group.

Te Ora Hou manager Judy Kumeroa said Mrs Parnell was a stunning woman, and Tawhero principal Chris Dibben said she was driven to achieve, to support other people and to help herself.

Lately her skills in bringing people together are resulting in a little paid work - eight hours for Te Ora Hou and some work in Gonville for the Whanganui Restorative Practices Trust.

Her volunteer ethic comes from her grandfather, Bob Jenkins. She's passed it on to her son Sam, 9, who helps out with the Tawhero breakfasts.

Mrs Parnell's bit of Gonville has a lot of jobless people in rental houses, and she doesn't want them judged.

"I want people to see beyond the post code to the awesome people that are in our area. They're great people with great personalities who just want an opportunity to be valued."

Dyslexic herself, she said people sometimes needed a chance in their 20s or 30s to make a difference or find other ways to learn. She's uneasy about the award nomination, because everything she does is as part of a team - and she gets a lot of benefit from it herself.

"It's very enriching."

She often asks for donations and practical help, and said Whanganui people and businesses provided.

"I get to do all these really cool things, because I ask people and they create them."

Retiree puts the 'we' into weeding

Pride of NZ nominee Gerry Henley.

Gerry Henley- Environment

Gerry Henley has found a rather unusual way to spend his retirement - weed-busting.

The Muriwai resident of 11 years has made it his mission to bring the community together through environment-based projects.

Working bees, native tree planting and weeding are just some of the initiatives Mr Henley helps to drive through his role as co-founder and chairman of the Muriwai Environmental Action Community Trust (MeAct).

Mr Henley's drive to preserve the Muriwai coastline has earned him a Pride of New Zealand nomination in the Environment category.

"The group would flounder without Gerry's dedication and commitment," said his nominator, adding that he works quietly and tirelessly.

People have busy lives, so it can be difficult to get the community involved, but "building community around the environment seemed like a pretty good scheme to me", he said.

As someone who has always been interested in the environment, his retirement has offered him his first opportunity to invest time in it.

As well as rolling up his sleeves, his particular interest in weed control has grown into a regular column in the local bi-monthly Gannet Magazine.

Mr Henley focuses on a different weed in the area each issue "to try and keep weed management in the front of people's minds".

His focus has turned to setting up a nursery to help educate the community about native flora and produce its own plants.

"Hopefully, we can get a place ourselves, identify with it and draw community involvement around it."

He would like to see the community cultivating and planting natives in Muriwai as well as their own gardens.

"While he could be kicking back playing golf, travelling or generally enjoying his retirement, Gerry continues to put so much effort into our beautiful and unique environment," said his nominator.

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.