Chanelle Haffenden has already raised $500 for Lifewise. Photo / Dean Purcell
Chanelle Haffenden has already raised $500 for Lifewise. Photo / Dean Purcell
When Chanelle Haffenden's plea for work was heard, she decided to pay it forward
A month ago, Chanelle Haffenden had no job and asked strangers for help.
She stood on a street with a sign asking for work and within a day had a job. Now she wants to give something back to the community.
After applying for more than 60 jobs she was offered a customer service role at ice block company Nice Blocks after the owners were sent a picture of her on Facebook with her sign saying: "Please give me a job."
"I guess I believe in the whole karma thing and just knowing people have helped me out during the hardest time of my life," Miss Haffenden said.
She was offered job after her employers received a photo of her with a sign saying: "Please give me a job."
The 21-year-old started a Trade Me auction, selling Nice Blocks, with all the funds going to Lifewise, a community organisation that helps families in need and the homeless.
The auction closed yesterday after raising $500. Miss Haffenden said Lifewise had been a big help to her when she found herself homeless at one point last year.
"I used to go there and eat at the cafe, it was a dollar for coffee, which is really cheap, and they were so nice to talk to.
"I don't believe in people taking and not giving. I believe if someone gives to you, you have to give back and give back more. People helped me sometimes without me even asking for it and I will give it my all to try and figure a way to help them." The feedback she'd had from the auction was 98 per cent positive.
"Everyone has been really nice, [and] saying I'm an inspiration. A lot of people weren't aware of Lifewise and now a bit more people are so that has to be a good thing."
She wants to do more charity work. "Too many people think about their gain but you should be thinking about what you can give back - or to make someone smile or help someone's life for a day. If you can help one person even in a little way the world would be a much better place. Unfortunately the world is not like that, although it should be."
Nice Blocks co-director James Crow, 33, said the company had given Ms Haffenden an opportunity which she had turned into several others.
"We have a lot of seconds and material we can't sell so she had an idea for us to deliver those ice blocks to Women's Refuge and different groups who could enjoy a little treat without having to pay for it."
Lesley Mynett-Johnson, Lifewise's director of fundraising, said: "The support she has given us is really great and we really appreciate it."
