Secret society "do-gooders"...come out from hiding, and stand proud! We want to tell you that it's catching on, this "volunteering" thingy: it's swelling in numbers; rapidly gaining momentum; the word is obviously out! What am I on about?  Well, I've had an epiphany.

It is a cold and wet Sunday.  I momentarily contemplate dragging the household off on a beach walk in the rain to pick up rubbish (weird, but strangely rewarding at the end of the stroll).  But I don't. 

I decide to do something completely different, something that I personally haven't done for many, many years.  I want to go and plant a tree. 

I don't have a tree or a spade, but I do have gumboots (the other essential item for a tree planter, I summize). So off I venture into the rain.  The Forest & Bird has an Tuff Crater restoration day and it is calling my name (very faintly, I may add). Things are however, falling into place.

So I rock up in my gumboots, looking ready for action but otherwise a little aimless to be fair, only to discover a mini-village of tents has been erected to greet me: hot milo urns, drinking water tanks, flowing hand soap dispensers, portaloos complete with real paper, spades all lined up in a row, and hundreds of volunteers.  It was amazing to witness.  This made getting muddy and wet and cold almost pleasant! 

Hoards of enthusiastic, suspiciously normal looking (hmmm, mostly), everyday folk wanting to make a difference, happily wade through ankle deep mud, fight over natives to plant, giggle, fall over (although not necessarily in that order), look like seasoned veterans, generally have a whale of a time, then get to scoff a sausage sizzle at the end!  More than 2000 trees are planted in less than two hours.  Splendid.  The organisers are "well pleased".

My epiphany? Volunteering isn't about giving away your last charitable dollar, nor signing up to lifelong memberships and bequeathing your weekends for the rest of your days.  But it's all about perception.  If you give a toss, you get bucketloads of warm and fuzzy returns, without parting with a coin.

If you don't, then perhaps you're missing out on something very spesh.  Shake a leg and allow yourself to indulge in some self-less activity for a bit.  For inspiration check out Volunteer Now, who have a range of "things" from clerical to trade, sports coaching, to environment and fundraising, all across New Zealand.

But, if you want to plant a tree (as I did) then you can be part of Auckland's Big Picture too.