Uncorked: Serving our community

A few weeks after the ceremony, I find myself still harkening to the Marlborough Community & Volunteer of the Year Awards.

Colour me inspired.

Having arrived in Marlborough just a few weeks after the 2025 edition, I lacked a full frame of reference for what would transpire on 24 June at Whitehaven Theatre.

More than a hundred nominees spread across nearly two-dozen categories? That says something about the event and the community.

I noted in news coverage (the article headlined “Giving a hand to giving hands”) how fitting it was that Volunteer Marlborough awarded its top honour to two people.

Jack Powell is a volunteer firefighter and a student leader at Marlborough Boys’ College; Cindy Morrison volunteers with Hospice Marlborough, Alzheimers Marlborough, Marlborough Four Paws and the Cancer Society.

The ripple effect from each Volunteer of the Year is huge. Together, they affect multitudes of Marlburians.

If we lived in a utopia, needs filled by volunteers, groups and charities would not be needs at all. If public coffers were inexhaustible, the need for volunteers, groups and charities would wane.

Those worlds are not our reality. Altruism bridges gaps in housing, food, health care, education and myriad others. Volunteers devote time and energy to this bridge-building.

So many organisations do this work in Marlborough! Award nominees represent a cross-section; others labour outside the spotlight.

I am a Rotarian. Rotary International has two Blenheim clubs among 56 on the South Island, all with the same motto: “Service above self”. I am active locally and regionally, as I was in Northern California.

Meeting Jack, reconnecting with Cindy and seeing the scope of volunteerism in Marlborough reinvigorated my enthusiasm for making positive impacts in the community. Marlburians’ compassion and generosity motivate me. I hope you appreciate these collective qualities as well.