ANZCO's Local Heroes: Liz Tare

We're recognising ‘ANZCO's local heroes’ - people who volunteer their time to make an impact in their community. We're chatting to them about what they do, what they've learned, and their advice for anyone who wants to get involved in their community.
Today, meet Elizabeth Tare

Trimmer/Packer and D&I Ambassador at ANZCO Foods Canterbury
Elizabeth (Liz) is widely involved in her local community, helping out at her children's school, at her church, and the wider community. She also loves gathering women together to support and learn from each other.

Her community is part of her day-to-day life so she's happy to get involved in whatever needs to be done. She'll often help with school activities and sports and on the school committee. She helps put on meals and get-togethers for the community, she's involved in the Ashburton Samoan Catholic Church, and she's the secretary for the Ashburton Cook Island community. 

She enjoys everything about helping her community - she loves helping youth and families, and being able to make things happen for them. Her family is multi-lingual, speaking Cook Islands Māori, Samoan, and English, and she loves being able to use these languages to connect with many areas of the community. 

Her love of people is what inspired her to get involved, and she's also had great examples of community involvement in her parents and grandparents. Her motivation comes from learning everything she can - she loves learning from the people she gets to know through her community involvement, particularly her elders who support and encourage her. A highlight from her time as a volunteer was when she was able to be a listening ear, and help someone who was struggling and lost their way a bit. She gets satisfaction out of knowing she's been able to help them. 

Her interaction skills have grown with time as a volunteer, and she's found she's able to listen to and help people better. She's a D&I Ambassador at our Canterbury site, and used to be a First Aider and Health and Safety Rep, so she's been able to use her volunteer skills at work - which is great, because she loves seeing people coming to work happy, and being happy in their work. And she's found the same in reverse - her roles at work have helped her grow her confidence and back herself, which she uses in her community work as well. She's been known to remind people that if you come in with a smile, other people smile too - it's contagious!

Liz's advice for anyone wanting to get involved in their community is to talk to people! Don’t be afraid to take on opportunities and new roles.
If you know a local hero that deserves to be recognised, email Ashley.Abrahams@anzcofoods.com