Shona Graham honoured with Lifetime Volunteer Award after 30 years of service

Katikati local Shona Graham has been recognised with a Lifetime Volunteer Award from Volunteering Services, acknowledging three decades of dedicated community contribution. The award was presented at June's KatiChat gathering, where Graham was surprised by the honour while celebrating others being recognised.

Graham's volunteering journey began in 1995 when she arrived in Katikati and spotted a newspaper advertisement seeking helpers for the town's Christmas Float Parade. What started as a way to meet people grew into an enduring commitment that now spans reading recovery sessions at Katikati Primary School, the school holiday programme, health expos, community picnics, and helping host the Festival of Cultures at Katikati Community Centre.

Every week Graham spends two hours supporting Year 1 students with their reading at Katikati Primary. Literacy specialist teacher Andrea Menhinick says Graham is an exceptional asset who forms genuine bonds with tamariki and makes use of every available minute with a child and a book. Centre manager Nicky Austin said it would be impossible to count the hours Graham has given, describing her as "cheery, positive, hard-working" and someone the centre simply could not do without.

Volunteering runs in the whānau — Graham's mother modelled the value of giving back, and her daughter Phoebe now volunteers at the centre too. Despite the recognition, Graham was characteristically modest, insisting others were more deserving. "I don't like to blow my own horn," she said — though she admitted it was lovely to be acknowledged.

Originally published in Katikati News (Sun Media).