Tomorrow (December 5th) marks International Volunteers Day (IVD) – a time to recognise and celebrate the contributions of volunteers all over the world.
Originally set up by the United Nations in 1985, IVD takes on a new theme every year. In 2020, that theme is Together We Can. It’s a theme that resonates in New Zealand’s volunteer community – the vast majority of those who freely give their time here do so to help communities and connect with others.
It’s obviously been a difficult year for everyone, both in New Zealand and abroad. But despite the financial, health and societal challenges we have faced, volunteers have continued to give their time, energy and aroha to those who need it.
This was never more evident than in the work we do at Springboard. Our cross-sector model means volunteers from all walks of life work with principals and school leaders – but many of those organisations we partner with were some of the hardest-hit by COVID-19.
Nevertheless, nearly every single volunteer who agreed to join us at the beginning of 2020 stayed on through thick and thin, coaching and challenging school leaders while learning massive amounts about education and their own leadership capability.
So for International Volunteers Day 2020, we’d like to take a moment to say to our volunteers: We don’t know how you did it, and we are so humbled and grateful that you did.
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