“If you’ve got even half a day or a few hours to give back, it makes a difference.”
When faced with their retirement years, most people look forward to putting their feet up and planning a tropical cruise or two.
Not so for Dave, an active volunteer whose passion for minimising food waste has led him to spend his Fridays giving back to the community in a truly impactful way. He is driven by the idea that any amount of time volunteering can make a huge difference.
“I’ve got the energy and feel privileged to be time-rich in retirement. It’s nice to give a little back.”
Dave’s advice for others thinking about volunteering?
If you’ve got even half a day or a few hours in to give back, it makes a difference.
Upon nearing retirement, Dave decided to put aside his Fridays for volunteering. Seeing the increased demand on food banks post-Covid and hearing about the sheer magnitude of food being discarded by supermarkets led him to Foodbank Canterbury and then to Kairos Food Rescue when the former closed in 2023.
“We waste immense amounts of food as 21st-century consumers. I looked for an organisation that had the same viewpoints but doing work at an industrial level.”
Dave and his crew handle pallet loads of food, sorting them into categories and discarding items not fit for consumption. The crew works with bread, groceries, produce, and deli items to ensure everything is ready for the Food Store and nothing is wasted.
Dave sees the social element as a huge benefit of the work. He and the crew take time to catch up on each other’s lives and families during their shifts. He has been working alongside some of the Friday crew for over four years and enjoys the sense of camaraderie and shared success when they leave each day.
“At the end of the shift, you may feel tired, but you have this great sense that you’ve done something tangible. There’s a strong sense that what you’re delivering is helping your neighbours and the people around you. It’s about pulling everybody up together and making a little bit of a difference.”