Tauranga volunteer raises $70,000 for Assistance Dogs

A fundraising genius behind Assistance Dogs New Zealand has been named the Bay's Volunteer of the Year at a special ceremony.

Linda Scott developed a donation box programme from scratch, taking it from a $10,000 a year operation three years ago to an expected $70,000 this year.

Ms Scott was honoured at the Eves Realty Volunteer Excellence Awards held at the Elms and organised by Volunteering Bay of Plenty.

There were now 600 donation boxes in shops and cafes throughout the North Island, with the initiative about to take off in the South Island.

Also honoured yesterday were Richard Hume of Blue Rovers Junior Football Club who won the Trustee of the Year award and Cindy Huang of Rotorua's Arts Village who was the Youth Volunteer of the Year.

Ms Scott told the Bay of Plenty Times that she loved helping people. ''Imagine if everyone gave an hour a week doing some for others, it would be lovely.''

A member of the judging panel, Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller, described her as a highly motivated yet light-hearted person who set herself high targets.

During the trust's national appeal week, she baked 2000 biscuits and packaged them up
as small tokens of appreciation for all the street collectors throughout New Zealand.

''She is a dedicated volunteer...a true asset,'' Mr Muller said.

Bay of Plenty Volunteering's Trustee of the Year Richard Hume of the Blue Rovers Junior Football Club. Photo/John Borren.

Ms Scott was also in the process of training her fourth assistance dog for an organisation that partnered up dogs to people with a wide range of disabilities. Ninety per cent of clients were children.

She takes one puppy a year, training it specifically for a client's needs until it was ready to be go to its owner as a 13 or 14 month-old dog.

''Dogs help to keep me going. I've been through breast cancer and kidney cancer and dogs went through it with me,'' Ms Scott said.

Her latest dog Asher was a golden retriever whose pedigree included a dog that sired hundreds of guide dogs in the UK. The plan was to mate him with Labradors so that the offspring would have ''the calmness of a golden retriever with the willingness of a Labrador''.

Ms Scott said baking biscuits for street collectors was a tangible expression of her belief that volunteers needed to feel they were appreciated and valued. ''I have experienced not being valued as a volunteer,'' she said.

There were 100 donation boxes in the Bay of Plenty and her goal was to lift donations to $100,000 a year. Each dog cost about $40,000 to train.

Mr Hume's volunteer work for Blue Rovers began in 2002 when he coached one of his son's 6th grade teams, sparking a commitment that has included coaching, refereeing and a stint as club secretary.

His citation said his knowledge, input and experience had been invaluable, including chairing the clubrooms subcommittee which saw the dream come true of Blue Rovers owning its own clubrooms - Meredith Hall in Pemberton Park.

Mr Hume said his involvement with the club had been fulfilling and stemmed from his three children playing for the club. He had become famous for saying ''this year will be my last year''.

Ms Huang's award was for single-handedly organising and installing a youth exhibition at Rotorua's Arts Village and voluntarily putting together a video of the six-week project.

Certificates of appreciation were presented to Jasmine Kirk and Margaret Jenner who were leaving the organisation's front office at the end of this month and a volunteer who had given more than 500 hours, Christina Fitzgerald.

A retiring trustee and one of the judges, Narissa Siemonek, was presented with a bouquet of flowers. The other judge was Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy.

Volunteering Bay of Plenty's achievements this year
- 20 per cent increase in new volunteers
- 50 per cent increase in referrals to organisations needing helping hand
- 45 per cent increase in Facebook likes