17/06/2026
“One Volunteer’s Journey”
“I am Barbara, a volunteer at the Alexandra Family Store.
My husband and I retired to Alexandra from Dunedin about two years ago. I was looking to add variety to my retirement, something different to the previous time pressured paid work I had done in Dunedin.
Volunteering here fitted the brief and at the same time I have met many wonderful new people and feel I am doing something helpful.
What I really like about volunteering here is, as the saying says, ‘the people, the people, the people’. The store is like a community of really welcoming people, both the volunteers, our team leader, and our customers.
Whether it is someone finding a ‘gem’ they hadn’t expected to find, a little child very excited about a toy their parent was buying for them to take home, or somebody really needing cheaper clothing than they could afford elsewhere.
That being dog friendly really makes us more of a community feel too and these things make me smile, and the joy I feel being a small part of their day goes with me when I leave the shop.”
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