Source: New Zealand Plunket Society
Since the 1st April, the Student Volunteer Army (SVA) has been working with New World supermarkets, Hyundai New Zealand and Z Energy to ensure those who find it harder to get their groceries (such as the over 65’s & the medically vulnerable) are supported, through the SVA online shop & volunteer delivery service (www.shop.sva.org.nz).
As of 24 April 2020, both Plunket and the SVA are thrilled to announce that they’ve teamed up to help spread the word to parents who might be struggling to get their groceries – and with whānau and neighbours gradually returning to work as we move into Level 3, this need won’t be going away anytime soon.
“What we’ve learnt from disasters (both at home and abroad) is that it’s about planning for recovery”, says Sam Johnson, Founder & Chief Executive of the SVA. “We’re focused on using our incredible service that we’ve built to help as many people as possible – and what we’ve been hearing over the past week, is that those parenting alone, particularly of very young tamariki, are faced with challenging logistical situations. We wanted to work with a partner to help ease some of that burden.”
Johnson is a former trustee of the Plunket Foundation, so it was a natural first step to reach out to Aotearoa’s largest provider of support services for children under the age of 5 reaching over 85% of newborns. Plunket has been busy standing up its virtual services while ‘in person’ visits are suspended. Well Child Tamariki Ora checks are being conducted over the phone or via internet sessions using Zoom and PlunkletLine is available 24/7 service on 0800 933 922.
Plunket’s CEO Amanda Malu says this is a fantastic initiative and couldn’t have come at a better time. “It’s situations like these when we realise we take everyday tasks like nipping out the shops for granted. Sole parents with young Tamariki have been hit particularly hard so the offer from SVA to pick up groceries couldn’t have come at a better time.”
About the service
Volunteers shop and deliver groceries to households within their community and will pick the shopping at a New World store which opens early, especially for the SVA. The volunteer then delivers the shopping and will leave it at the customer’s door – it’s a completely contactless process.
The Student Volunteer Army’s Grocery Delivery Service is currently operating throughout Aotearoa
For more information, please contact Erin: er in@sva.org.nz / 022.430.8043
Images & graphics available here.
About Whānau Āwhina Plunket
- Plunket is a national not-for-profit organisation and New Zealand’s largest provider of support services for the development, health and wellbeing of tamariki and whānau.
- Whānau āwhina / Plunket is committed to providing universal access to services for all children and families regardless of ethnicity or location through our Well Child Tamariki Ora service and the range of community services offered to families.
- PlunketLine support line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide guidance and advice to parents and caregivers – 0800 933 922.
- In the first 1000 days we make the difference of a lifetime: Ko te whakapae / E kitea te haurereke tangata i ngā rā takatua nei
- Visit Whānau Āwhina Plunket’s website https://www.plunket.org.nz/
If you have any further questions about Whānau Āwhina Plunket’s virtual services, please contact:
Chelsea Galpin, Senior Communications Advisor on 027 234 4998.
About the SVA
- The SVA’s overarching goal is to motivate and mobilise people who otherwise may not be volunteers to start volunteering.
- SVA Schools – a teaching resource for primary school classrooms that currently engages with 7% of New Zealand primary schools (32,000 students) to learn about volunteering and execute a local volunteering project.
- SVA Service Award – a national framework for secondary school volunteer recognition that enables students to track their level of community service, evaluate their impact and earn service award badges. In 2019 more than 130 schools engaged with the award programme.
- SVA Clubs – governance and administrative support to the UC SVA, which has 3000 members and 28 executive leaders. Nearly a decade following the quakes, the SVA Club at the UC remains the largest club on campus.
SVA Education – The Trust hosts international visiting groups and frequently shares its experiences through workshops, speaking and events.
