Sandra Ning volunteered to help former refugee families settle into the area over four years ago.
Dropping the children of her nominated families off at their different events, from dancing to football, she soon found herself hollering from the sidelines.
For one event in particular, Ms Ning travelled to Christchurch to watch one of the children compete in a martial arts competition.
As part of International Volunteer Year 2026, Volunteering Mid and South Canterbury are throwing a spotlight on volunteers across the region.
Ms Ning was nominated by Tracey Miron, the manager of settlement services for former refugees.
"Sandra has given her time and support to seven large Syrian former refugee families and still finds time to assist other volunteers supporting other families," Mrs Miron said.
"Her support is above and beyond anything we could expect."
Ms Ning had supported many families, some for just a few months until they were able to start to stand alone, but with others she continued to support and work with them for years if necessary.
Ms Ning was a quiet, selfless, unassuming, reliable and kind person who was dedicated to the people she supported, Mrs Miron said.
Ms Ning said one of the things she got back from the role was the sense of joy when she saw the children progress.
While she was not someone who felt comfortable with the limelight, she had allowed the community to know about her role in the hopes that the spotlight could be cast upon the people and organisers who helped her families become settled.
The Timaru community "generously" donated household goods, which the Zonta Club of Timaru carefully set up in houses before families arrived, Ms Ning said.
Bad Bitches Baking whipped up some fresh baking before families arrived in the area.
Then she would come on board, helping the families with things like babysitting, school registrations, school runs and accompanying mothers at the grocery store until they found their feet.
She was thankful to the mothers of the children’s teammates who transported them to their different sporting events when she was unable to.
She was appreciative of the Timaru Olympic Taekwondo club and Bronze Beats Dance Studio who showed "such kindness to the families".
The Timaru District Council provided "meaningful" refugee participation funding, which enabled organisations in the community to deliver courses and activities for the families, she said.
She was always impressed with how quickly the children could go from only speaking a few words in English to holding conversations with her.
But for parents, English Language Partners voluntary tutors provided a lot of individual support.
And last — but certainly not least — she was very thankful to Refugee Settlement Services.
They were an amazing and dedicated team, who worked "very hard" to resettle families, Ms Ning said.
