21 June 2023
Doreen Bunker was one of the first volunteers to work in the Orewa Hospice Shop after it opened in 1997 – and 25 years on she still loves it as much as the day she started.
Every Friday you’ll find Doreen Bunker at the Orewa Hospice Shop, sorting clothes. And at 93 she’s as enthusiastic about her volunteer role as she was when she started 25 years ago. “I love it, I have a laugh with the people I work with and it’s nice knowing that the money people spend goes toward caring for hospice patients,” she says.
Doreen began volunteering for hospice after moving to the area and seeing a notice in the shop window asking for volunteers. The shop had only opened a year earlier, in 1997, and was the first hospice shop to open on the Hibiscus Coast, so Doreen remembers it as “small but very busy”.
Right from the start Doreen says she felt welcome in the Hospice volunteer family, and she especially liked the idea of supporting Hospice because her late husband was cared for beautifully by Hospice services in Northland before he died.
“It’s an important part of my life and I don’t know what I’d do without it,” she says.
Over the years Doreen has witnessed everything “get bigger” – from the size of the shops to the amount of donations received to the amount of funds raised for patient care from the shops. The customer base has changed too, she says. “Now there are more young people, and people from all walks of life,” she says.
“I think it’s because second-hand shopping is so interesting. Second-hand shops sell everything and you never know what you’re going to find.”
Doreen should know, she’s a dedicated hospice shopper, too. She always arrives for her shift half an hour early so she has time to look for something she “can’t live without”. Two of her favourite purchases are her gorgeous lounge suite and her lovely pink cardigan, pictured here.
