As part of our volunteer stories series to celebrate Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu, National Volunteer Week, we sat down with Mr. Peter Joe. 

Peter Joe is a humble man, downplaying his efforts as a volunteer for Arohanui Hospice. Every time his achievements are mentioned he clarifies – “it’s a team effort”, referring to his partner Meg.

A structural engineer for 45 years, retired is not the word that springs to mind as he keeps his days filled with things to do. A repeat offender, Peter is extremely generous with his time, volunteering for the Clearview Park Lions and the Rugby Museum alongside his time spent looking after one of the largest gardens at Hospice. Come Christmas time he gets involved with the food drive, and he’s been known to help coordinate promotional signage for elections as well.

When asked what drives him to volunteer, “oh it’s good staying busy, isn’t it? Keeps me going,” Peter says, again downplaying his visible drive to serve the community.

“I had a very dear friend spend their last week here at hospice and the care they received was phenomenal. I wanted to do something to give back so I popped in and asked to volunteer and was able to join the gardening team. That was 7 years ago now.”

He’s not just a gardener for us here at Arohanui though, he’s one of the first to put his hand up to help with fundraising activities including grocery packing and manning the barbeques at events.

For those thinking about volunteering, Peter says to you, “if you have the time, then get involved!”