Step out to get a story

Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless and Red Cross’ Maree Boyes have teamed up to complete the Red Cross’ The Journey programme. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

It's about taking a step in someone else's shoes.

And in the case of Red Cross' Maree Boyes and Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless, they're taking 10,000 steps a day to understand someone else's story.

Maree and Greg have teamed up to complete the Red Cross' The Journey programme – running from May 8 to June 8 – to unlock pieces of a Red Cross volunteer's story.

'The idea behind The Journey is to follow the journey of a Red Cross volunteer and, as you take steps and log them in, you'll unlock little bits of information about their story and their job,” says Maree.

'I contacted Greg and he said: ‘I'm in but I don't think I can do 10,000 steps' so I suggested we team up and we could do it together. Greg did two weeks' volunteer work in Thailand following the Indonesian tsunami. He then returned to help again several weeks later. He said yes to this challenge when others said no.”

Greg's disaster volunteer work made a difference to the people he has helped, and he has had his own experience in the role of relief worker

'In 2004/2005 following the Asian tsunami I firstly volunteered, then later worked, in Khao Lak and Mai Khao, Thailand, assisting with those who had died along the coast,” says Greg.

'There were about 3000 tourists and 3000 locals who died in that area. I was there initially for two weeks as a volunteer, then some months later for five weeks as a contractor for the actual repatriation.”

Maree says one the main focuses is disaster relief.

'The money from this goes towards the Red Cross helping people, not just in the local community but here and overseas.”

But it's not all fun and games for Maree. In her quest to log every precious step, she managed to drop her phone in the toilet. Thankfully she managed to dry it out and it has faithfully continued to log her daily steps.

'As challenging as I am finding this, I'm sure it's not as challenging as being a Red Cross disaster volunteer worker,” says Maree.

To donate to Maree and Greg's journey, visit www.redcrossjourney.co.nz and search ‘Greg and Maree' in the ‘Find a Friend' section.

You may also like....

0 comments

Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.