Te Awamutu teenager Corey Powell spends school holidays volunteering

Corey Powell wears his suit made from a tablecloth and holds Christmas-themed bags he has made. Photo / Dean Taylor

While some of Corey Powell’s Te Awamutu Intermediate schoolmates were using their recent school holidays to do kids’ stuff, which is what they are for, he was putting some effort into helping others.

Corey spends some of his holidays as a volunteer at the Red Cross Shop – but his efforts don’t stop there.

Corey, 12, loves anything mechanical and from the age of nine has been using his grandmother Barbara Fleck’s sewing machine to make cushion covers and pillow covers.

Lately, he has been using these skills to add value to the Red Cross Shop for its loyal customers.

On wet days in the holidays, he got out the sewing machine and made Christmas-themed shopping bags, which he has donated to the Red Cross Shop.

He hopes his colourful bags will add some Christmas cheer to customers’ shopping experience.

Red Cross Shop assistant manager Di Tatana said Corey was cheerful and helpful and nothing was a problem for him.

“He does a bit of cleaning and some of the jobs us ‘oldies’ find a bit hard,” she said.

Corey also put his sewing skills to good use during term three at school, taking part in the school’s Wearable Arts in his evening suit made from a plastic gold tablecloth.

His suit, tie, hat, gloves and shoes incorporated second-hand items and were decorated in gold and jig-saw puzzle pieces to blend with the tablecloth.

Corey’s love of machinery also gets him out and about in his spare time, the entrepreneurial young man mows lawns and does garden work to earn money to buy himself more tools, mostly to take on more outdoor work and earn more money.

He is proud that so far he owns a chainsaw, a weedeater and a drill set.

Some of Corey’s inspiration comes from his grandmother.

She is also a Red Cross Shop volunteer and has been donating items to help shoppers.

Fleck turns singlets and T-shirts that can’t be sold in the shop into handy shopping bags that are friendly on the environment.