Volunteer Voices: "If it’s something you are passionate about it will be seamless" Kelly
Kelly Good doesn’t stop smiling on the day of the Junior Challenge. “Of all the Challenge Wanaka triathlon events, that's the one I find most gratifying. You see these kids go from “I can’t, I can’t, to… I did it! It’s very heart-warming.”
A volunteer Trustee for the Challenge Wanaka Sports Trust for over 6 years, she is happy to give her time to an organisation facilitating engagement in sport right across the board. “I love that Challenge is truly inclusive. From juniors to professionals, they’re all supported to participate.”
The Challenge Wanaka Sports Trust is a charitable trust that donates its profits to local charities and organisations, and subsidises youth, adaptive and community participation. Its primary objective is to arrange and provide events and activities with a recreational and social benefit for Southern Lakes and nationwide.
Kelly says “It's completely volunteer-led. As Trustees we’re involved in governance and strategy for the future.”
Kelly brings several perspectives to her Trustee role.
A participant in Challenge herself she brings valuable knowledge from a user point of view. “The First Challenge event was coming up soon after we moved to Wanaka and I thought what a great way to get involved in the community, the discipline required really set me on the trajectory to be involved in triathlon events.”
No stranger to volunteering, Kelly has been involved in community initiatives including Wanaka’s Gigatown bid and founding Tri Wanaka, which provides a regular Summer Friday night swim run series for everyone. A member of the Chamber of Commerce for four years, she and husband Duncan also volunteer at charity auctions.
Business skills consolidate her credentials. “I love the health and wellbeing space and have a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and a Diploma in Acute Homeopathy. I’ve pretty much worked in business from the get go though. Things like marketing, product and business development and start-ups.”
Kelly and Duncan were running several successful import/export businesses when an opportunity to get into real estate presented itself. “We were away from home a lot with the businesses and, particularly when our second son Oscar was born, we wanted to be engaged more with the local community. Real estate was a way for us to do that.”
Working in their local real estate company she enjoys involvement in all the things that go with owning a business and providing overarching guidance and mentorship.
One of four generations in Wanaka Kelly says that this community gives her all the things she loves to do. “My happy place is in the outdoors, preferably on a bike and also being present for my family. Giving back is the icing on the cake.”
Advice to prospective volunteers? “If it’s something you are passionate about it will be seamless. It won’t feel like work, you’ll be benefiting from the feeling of giving back.”
Dunedin