Strangers from all over the world, volunteers, friends, family – what would we have done without them in the past weeks? And there’s no doubt that will we be needing their continued support in the weeks ahead.
The Star and nzherald.co.nz have come up with a nice initiative for people to express their thanks to all who have helped. They have set up a message board which allows people to post their messages online – these will then be published in The Star.
This has made me think of all the people who have helped me over the last fortnight, and especially the lovely Jenni and Sarah who “adopted” me for the first couple of hours after the quake when I was feeling lost and shell-shocked. Thank you for your support, Jenni and Sarah – you made a horrible time bearable. And, notwithstanding the impression I may have given you that day, I really don’t usually swear!
So who would you like to thank? We’d love you to hear from you.
And if you want to “pay it forward”, why not consider volunteering?
Here are some useful links:
- The Student Volunteer Army website
- The Christchurch Earthquake Support web page on Trade Me
- The Red Cross website
- The Salvation Army website
- The Volunteering Canterbury website
- Volunteering information from our website
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 
I think the Farmy Army were spectacular – thanks to them and all the companies who supported them by sending food, drink and other supplies to keep them going. Legends!
My brother was helping out with the Farmy Army. He told me (in a quiet voice) that they would prefer to be known as, “The Feds”. Too late!
You swore, Vanessa?! :-O I think a lot of us did. I would like to (and already have) thank the marvellous Halswell Library team for taking me under their wing immediately post-quake. Kim, Jan and Jane made me feel like one of the girls, even though it was the first shift I’d had at their library in over a year!
Hi Rachael, I was like a record stuck on one word!
All the people working huge hours to get the roads functioning (in a fashion) again. They are working miracles.
I’d like to thank Facebook. I hadn’t had much cause to use it until the earthquake struck and I found it invaluable for keeping up with friends and contacting family overseas. And, at the risk of sounding try-hard, I’d also like to thank CCL and CCC for keeping me posted throughout. Great employers, I reckon.
Hi Rachel, it was the same for me with Twitter – I had used it very little prior to the quake, but it quickly became my one-stop shop for information.
I would like to say thanks to the reporters and news crews who worked around the clock to help get the information out. Thanks to all those tweeting and updating critical websites so that those who had power could get information as quickly as it was released. I was in Tauranga and had power so was able to tweet out that information to those people who didn’t. Also a huge thanks to Shirley for making sure I go nowhere without my laptop – it certainly proved to be a godsend for keeping in touch with people. A huge huge thanks to the thousands of people who checked on the elderly and their neighbours, who took them meals and who opened their homes to them – god bless