‘A Celebration of the Kiwi Spirit’ BC Alumni honoured for Christchurch Earthquake Volunteering

BC Alumni, Jade Rutherford and Sam Gifford (in front-centre of photo), were both honoured at the University of Canterbury Community Engagement Awards recently for their efforts with the Student Volunteer Army (SVA).  The SVA was mobilised and led by students to help clean up Christchurch after the September and February earthquakes, which devastated the city.

 Jade, who received the UC Gold Award for her contribution, is in her final year of a political science and media and communications degree at University of Canterbury.  She put her talent for organisation and communications to good use, becoming the ‘voice’ of the SVA, co-ordinating and tracking the efforts of the team to best advantage.

Jade said there was no one moment where she stopped to think about whether she would get involved in the clean up or not.   Her friend Sam Johnson asked her to help out on the very first day of the clean up.  “We organised the volunteers together from that point onwards,” says Jade. “Following the February quakes, there was no question as to whether we would do it all over again. So many people were so significantly affected by the events of that day that it was impossible not to do something to help.”

Sam Gifford, who is in his final year of an environmental science degree, was home in the Bay of Plenty for a rugby tournament when the September earthquake struck.  He wanted to join in with his friends and do his part to help out when he got back to Christchurch a few days later. “I just got involved helping out where I could either on the spade, helping move equipment, or organising food for volunteers etc. When February happened those of us from September got together and it started all over again but this time we kind of knew what to expect.”  Sam also received the UC Gold Award for his efforts.

Crisis often draws out the best in communities, and both Jade and Sam experienced this first hand.  “I was constantly amazed at the number of people who showed up day after day to volunteer,” says Jade.  “It's a true testament to the Kiwi spirit that our volunteers would willingly and cheerfully embrace hours of physical labour to help someone they didn't know - truly heartwarming.”  SVA needed resources in order to be effective, and once again the local community showed its true colours.   Sam commented, “Anything we wanted or needed we could get our hands on it somehow, the generosity of New Zealanders was pretty uplifting.”

Prime Minister John Key was present at the awards ceremony, and both Jade and Sam spoke with him, though both have had a number of encounters with Mr. Key.  “John Key is very refreshing and has a wicked sense of humour. I've been fortunate to meet him on a number of occasions and he's always very interesting,” says Jade.   Sam agrees with Jade on this, and said he also found Prince William, who met with some members of the SVA during his visit to Christchurch, very relaxed given his position. “Meeting the Prince was awesome.  He was genuinely interested in what we had done and in our perspective on things in Christchurch.”

Their strongest memories of their time in the SVA though will be of the community spirit of the volunteers and the gratitude of Christchurch residents.  “Their responses were so encouraging and uplifting,” says Jade, “They made you feel like you were contributing something positive to society. One the most memorable stories we received was about a primary school that held a ‘dress as your heroes’ day when a group of children dressed up as SVA volunteers. This was so sweet."