August Volunteer of the Month – Maddison McQueen-Davies

Congratulations to Maddison, our Volunteer of the Month for August!

16 year old Maddie single handily started and runs ‘Share a Pair NZ’. Maddie was horrified to discover that local kids in the Manawatu were having to go to school in broken, leaking shoes leading to wet feet and days off school due to sickness or being excluded from class due to incorrect footwear, while other kids were finishing school never to need their school shoes again. To solve the issue she started ‘Share a Pair NZ’ where she recycles donated pre-loved shoes to families in need. To date she has collected over 850 pairs of shoes and regifted over 450 pairs. She has had mums and grandmas in tears just so thrilled to get shoes for their kids. She has inspired people from all over New Zealand to start their own initiatives in their local areas and sends them info sheets with helpful hints on how to start up their own shoe recycling schemes. One hurdle she did not consider was that people who need shoes often do not have transport to collect them. As such she now delivers shoe orders a couple of times a week all around Palmerston North. Check out her Facebook page ‘Share a Pair NZ’ to see the awesome work she does.

Congratulations, Maddie, for creating such a fantastic initiative that truly helps your community, while also diverting waste from landfill. You are an inspiration!

The winner of the New Zealand Couriers Volunteer of the Month receives $100, a KNZB tshirt, New Zealand Couriers bag, Klean Kanteen drink bottle, two dreamy Vendella pillows and more – along with being automatically entered into the annual Beautiful Awards!

If you know someone who does great work Keeping New Zealand Beautiful, you can nominate them here.