When David Horgan heard about the Christchurch earthquake, he took a week off work and flew to the damaged city to help out.
Mr Horgan was one of five Red Cross volunteers from Rotorua who went to Christchurch after it was rocked by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on February 22.
The team was
also joined by a Red Cross volunteer from Whakatane and one from Tauranga.
They spent a week in Christchurch and flew back to Rotorua on Wednesday.
"We had multiple roles," Mr Horgan said.
"We were mainly involved in door-knocking around the suburbs and doing welfare checks."
Mr Horgan said the welfare checks weren't just for Christchurch residents - the Red Cross volunteers also checked on the search and rescue team members and building inspectors.
"We would also provide clean drinking water to people and we were able to help out at the welfare centres."
Mr Horgan said the main challenge the Bay of Plenty team faced was they were still only a newly formed team.
"We have only been together for about 18 months," he said.
"We had to integrate with all these response teams from around the country."
Mr Horgan said the trip to Christchurch was tough as his family was originally from the Garden City.
"I just wanted to get there and help out."
He said the atmosphere within Christchurch was quite surreal.
"A lot of people were in need and a lot of the time we were dealing with people who had lost everything."
Despite the challenges Mr Horgan and the other volunteers faced, he said it was satisfying knowing he was able to provide help and support to those in need.
"I would like to go back but I have other work commitments."
The best way for people to help out was to donate money.
"Another thing is giving respite to people from Christchurch," he said.
"It's so important that these people get a break, especially the kids. It's good to help them get back to normality."
