Morganan Morganan volunteers 10 to 15 hours a week. Photo / Martin Sykes
Every Saturday from nine till noon Morganan Morganan can be found at the end of a phone at Papatoetoe's Citizens Advice Bureau.
Volunteering for the bureau offers him the opportunity to help those in need, which is something he finds a lot of time to do.
Although he
works a 40-hour week helping people with disabilities to find employment, Mr Morganan still managers to volunteer around 10 to 15 hours a week to several community organisations.
As well as the Citizens Advice Bureau, he volunteers for Victim Support, South Auckland Esol Home Tutors, Lions Clubs New Zealand and Otara Budgeting Services. He is also active in the Hindu community and is a Justice of the Peace.
Citizens Advice Bureau social policy manager Louise May said volunteers were the "foundation of our service".
"Without them we simply wouldn't be able to provide the service to the public, we wouldn't exist."
Mr Morganan and his family were involved in a car accident in 2002 and credited the support he got from Victim Support as the motivation to get involved in volunteer work.
"When they helped me out I thought, 'I have to join this organisation to help others'."
"The way they helped me out was fabulous. I was really grateful to them."
The 45-year-old moved to New Zealand from Fiji in 2001, where he said he also volunteered for his community.
Ms May says roughly one-third of the bureau's volunteers are immigrants, which reflects the diversity of the communities it serves.
Mr Morganan said he found all the volunteer work satisfying as he simply loved to help people.
"I like seeing them satisfied. This is what my culture tells me to do, to help other people. When they are happy, you are happy."
