Volunteers give their time to plant the foreshore at Tainui Domain Reserve in an ongoing effort to restore the ecology there. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Next Friday a dinner will be held at Tainui Wetere Doman Rugby Clubrooms to honour those who make a difference in the Mōkau district.
Organiser Murray Seamark said the idea for the event could be traced back to a discussion locals held on ways to thank the volunteers who backed the annual Mighty Mōkau Trail Ride, an event with a regional following which had distributed profits to Mōkau School and the Mōkau Community Trust for more than 20 years.
“Then we realised that with National Volunteer Week running from June 18-24, this was a perfect opportunity to widen the brief to say ‘thank you’ to all those giving time and resources to help others here,” Murray said.
About 60 invitations have been sent out for the dinner, which will be emceed by Waitomo Mayor John Robertson and attended by National’s MP for Taranaki-King Country and Labour List MP Angela Roberts.
“There is over $1000 in spot prizes on the night which will encourage people to attend. We’re no different from so many other rural communities; we rely on volunteers to run our emergency services, but it doesn’t stop there,” Murray said.
As well as those who run the Tainui Mōkau Fire Station and the town’s St John Ambulance station Murray pointed out that Mōkau’s award-winning museum is run by a group of well-trained volunteers.
“It’s hard to cover them all; there’s volunteers at the Maniora Marae, at the hall society, the fishing club and the Awakino Bowling Club. There are school volunteers, carers of disabled people, those who assist the bone carving symposium, search and rescue, police, our own Tainui Wetere Domain Reserve Society, you name it.
“All these organisations rely on people who freely give time and resources to serve the community. Their efforts are vital in making rural communities like Mōkau and Awakino successful and viable places to live. We just couldn’t survive without them.”
Meanwhile, beginning next month Tainui Wetere Domain Reserve Society volunteers will begin planting out an additional 2000 plants to restore the environment in the domain and counteract coastal erosion.
Murray said the plants, which would include harakeke (native flax), would be sourced from Smartplants, Te Kūiti, using funds from the Lotteries Grants Board.
The society was also working to eliminate gorse, pampas and other weeds, as well as creating a walkway through the domain which would eventually be able to take people right into Mōkau, Murray said.
