Suzanne Aubert Compassion Centre Soup Kitchen

For more photos at this event, please click here.  

I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language. Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the afternoon (Sign).

I specifically greet: Philippa Meachen, Manager of the Suzanne Aubert Compassion Centre and the many volunteers present; Distinguished Guests here this afternoon. I trust that that term covers all those present. 

It is with great pleasure that Susan and I welcome you all to Government House for this afternoon tea reception.

I would like to say a little of the significance of organisations such as the Suzanne Aubert Compassion Centre and on the spirit of volunteering and its importance in strengthening New Zealand communities.

In preparing what I might say, I looked at the inspiring life of the Compassion Centre’s namesake in Jessie Munro’s recently published book “Letters on the Go”.

In September 1860, after a period spent nursing, Suzanne Aubert, then aged 25, sailed to New Zealand with Bishop Jean Baptiste François Pompallier, who had been in New Zealand, off and on, as New Zealand’s first Catholic bishop, from 1838.  Her work included nursing Māori and Pākehā in Hawke’s Bay as the settler population swelled particularly in the 1870s.

In the 1880s and 1890s, living up the Whanganui River at Jerusalem, she set up a Catholic congregation there, published a significant Māori text, broke in a hill farm, manufactured medicines, and gathered babies and children through the economic depression. In 1899 she moved to Wellington and, with the exception of a period spent in Rome between 1913 and 1919, remained in the capital for the rest of her life where she continued her commitment to caring for people ‘of all creeds and none’ until her death in 1926 at age 91.

Established in 1899, and bearing the name of its founder, a woman that contributed significantly to the social fabric of New Zealand during her life, the Suzanne Aubert Compassion Centre plays a pivotal role in providing food and support to the those in need in Wellington City.

I know of the Centre’s Soup Kitchen serving breakfast and dinner from Monday to Saturday and that guests’ numbers can reach up to 140 per day. To provide that service is a large feat requiring a significant amount of support, financial and practical.  Here at Government House, the work that goes into preparing a dinner in this ballroom for 120 people is significant and, although the context is different, we do not have the pressure of providing meals to such a large number of people six days a week!

The Compassion Centre’s mission, which reads “To support people in need to live with dignity in the community,” is an important point to note. Over the past few years the world has experienced an economic downturn that has affected many in this country. It has meant that families and individuals already finding it hard to make ends meet have been pushed even further.

To provide meals, free of charge, to those that are struggling, is an act that demonstrates humble human kindness.

In her Letter to the Novices, written in 1915, Sister Aubert addressed the strain on young sisters of fundraising in order that their services might be given free of charge. The advice reads as follows:-

“Be polite without flattery, be humble without cringing; respect yourselves… Seek first to please God for whom you are begging, in begging for the poor, and He will make you find the necessary resources. You ought to desire nothing more than that. The poor have no superfluity.”

Since coming to the Governor-General role in August 2006, Susan and I have made a continuing effort to emphasise and encourage the spirit of volunteering in the community.  We have hosted receptions at Government House in Auckland and Wellington to thank the many people who give of their time to work in the many contemporary charitable, cultural, sporting, health and social organisations.

In that regard, this afternoon is a celebration of the volunteers that keep our communities going.  It is also a celebration of the work that each of you do on the frontline.

This spirit of volunteering helps build strong and sustainable communities, and makes a significant economic contribution to our country and adds to what can be called its civic strength.

Of general interest and underlying importance is a significant report, released in August 2008, by the Centre for Civil Studies at the John Hopkins University in the United States. The report highlighted the significance of New Zealand’s not-for-profit sector and was prepared in collaboration with the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector in the Ministry of Social Development, and a team of researchers at Massey University.

Using criteria applied by the Centre in 41 other nations, the report compared New Zealand’s non-profit sector with the rest of the world.  The researchers found the New Zealand sector was a significant economic force, worth $9.8 billion. 

The study also found New Zealand had a proportionally larger non-profit workforce than most other nations studied.  Of that workforce, 67 percent were volunteers, a proportion much higher than the average and higher than similar Western nations such as Australia.  As the authors noted in conclusion:

“New Zealand’s non-profit organisations represent a significant economic presence in addition to their social and political importance… Especially striking is the sizable volunteer workforce that these organisations mobilise.”

I understand that in 2008, an estimated 1,241,000 New Zealanders volunteered their time to not-for-profit organisations.  Furthermore, Volunteering New Zealand reports that this large volunteer workforce contributes more than 270 million hours of formal, un-paid work for a vast range of not-for-profit organisations annually.

These are creditable figures and, for a country whose population sits at 4.29 million.  We can be proud that more than a quarter of our nation’s population gives its time to contribute to their communities. 

The spirit of volunteering can be described as the “glue” that holds our society and economy together.  Many of our health, education and social service sectors would grind to a halt without the countless hours of voluntary work many people provide. 

I am reminded of the visits Susan and I have made to Canterbury following the 4 September and 22 February earthquakes, where we witnessed civic strength in action.  Hundreds of volunteers rushed to their posts and helped, in whatever way they could, in offering assistance to those that needed it.  Of particular note, just as one example, were students from Canterbury University who volunteered time to shift silt from properties that had been affected by liquefaction.

The contribution of that volunteer army has played a large part in the region getting back on its feet despite the numerous aftershocks that continue to cause further damage. We can, as a country, take pride in the strength of our communities, particularly in times of need.

In conclusion, Susan and I offer our thanks and praise for the wonderful work that you do at the Suzanne Aubert Compassion Centre.  You should know that the countless hours that you have given, and the many lives that you have positively affected over your time as a volunteer, have not gone without notice.

Winston Churchill, Britain’s Prime Minister during the Second World War, put the value of volunteering well when he said:

“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”

Some at least of you may find yourself on the other side of the fence today, being served food, rather than serving it to others. In that regard, I hope that you will all enjoy the congenial surroundings and hospitality of Government House this afternoon.  

And on that note of acknowledgement and thanks for your individual contributions, I will close in New Zealand’s first language offering everyone greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in your endeavours.

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.